BEIJING - China's economy is expected to grow by about 7.5 percent in the first quarter, said the State Information Center (SIC), a government think tank.

China's consumer price index (CPI) will grow about 2.4 percent year on year in the first quarter and the producer price index will fall 1.5 percent, said a SIC report.

Due to slower investment in manufacturing and relatively tight liquidity, fixed-asset investment growth will slow to 18.6 percent in the first quarter, 2.3 percentage points lower year on year, the report said.

China's exports will grow about 8.1 percent year on year and imports about 8.5 percent year on year in the quarter, it said.

China's February exports came in weak, falling 18.1 percent year on year, compared to a rise of 10.6 percent in January.

CPI increased 2 percent year on year in February, down from 2.5 percent in the previous month and easing inflationary pressure since the end of last year.

The government has set the 2014 growth target at 7.5 percent, the same as last year, but lower than the real growth of 7.7 percent last year.

The target for 2014 CPI growth is 3.5 percent, the same as last year, but higher than the real CPI growth of 2.6 percent last year.

China's inflation up 2% in February	China sees trade deficit in Feb