BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A government think tank on Wednesday predicted China's economy to grow 9.2 percent this year before gliding to 8.9 percent in 2012.

The growth rate of China's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, which would be 1.2 percentage points lower than that of 2010, was set against the background of sluggish economic recovery worldwide, China's prudent monetary policy and the withdrawal of stimulus measures on consumption, according to a Blue Paper issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The paper, which predicts China's economic prospects for 2012, said the 8.9-percent GDP growth rate next year remains at a "reasonable growth zone" that features stable and relatively fast economic development.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, is expected to rise 4.6 percent in 2012, lower than the 5.5 percent the CASS forecasted for 2011.

Despite some progress, taming inflation and stabilizing commodity prices will remain the priorities of China's macro-control for the time being, according to the report.

The CASS warned that China should prepare for economic growth to be threatened by pessimistic exports, as it may take the world ten years or more to recover from the current financial crisis, which has affected the world economy since 2008.

However, the CASS said in the paper that China will see a drop in its exports against a slow global economic recovery, and the country will see a chance to shift its economic growth mode that is currently based on imports and exports, to one that is backed mainly by domestic consumption.