China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent in 2014, marking the weakest expansion in 24 years, official data showed Tuesday, as the world's second-largest economy struggles with fragile global demand and a slump in the local property market.

The Chinese gross domestic product, which grew 7.7 percent in 2013, rose 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to figures released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

China's top leaders had indicated that the country might fail to meet last year's growth target of about 7.5 percent as it faces a "new normal" of slow growth.

"Generally speaking, China's economy has achieved stable progress with improved quality under the new normal in 2014," the NBS said in a statement. "However, we should also be aware that the domestic and international situations are still complicated and the economic development is facing difficulties and challenges."

With the global economy still showing signs of a shaky recovery and China's property market remaining sluggish, many analysts expect Beijing to lower its 2015 growth target to about 7 percent.

"We must adhere to the principle of maintaining stable progress, focus on the improvement of the quality and efficiency of the economic development and proactively get adapted to the new normal," the statistics bureau said. (Yonhap)