China's economic growth may slow to 9.2 percent this year from last year's 10.4 percent, and it will still be led by investment, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said yesterday.

The ministry's prediction is more optimistic than the projection by the World Bank which said on Tuesday that China's growth will slow to 9.1 percent this year, with expansion at a slower 8.4 percent next year.

In 2012 China's industrial sector may continue to weaken and the rate will moderate 1 to 2 percentage points from this year's 14 percent, said Huang Libin, deputy director of the ministry's Operation, Monitoring and Coordination Bureau.

"Industrial production has shown signs of moderation, but it is still on track to a relatively stable growth," Huang said. "While exports of manufactured goods are slumping due to deteriorating global economic conditions, domestic demand helps to keep industrial production at an elevated level."

In the first 10 months, industrial output in China grew 14.1 percent annually but it slowed to 13.2 percent in October from the same month last year amid shrinking demand from overseas markets.

But Jin Bei, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said domestic demand has started to ease and "consumption in China has not lived up to expectations that it would lead the (economic) growth. The economy is still held up by investment, which can't be sustained for a very long time."

He also suggested Chinese manufacturers be prepared to cope with challenges, including rising production costs, higher standards in using natural resources and protecting the environment as well as shrinking domestic and overseas demand.

The preliminary reading for the HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for November, released on Wednesday, declined to a 32-month low of 48. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.