China President Xi Jinping says economy growth within reasonable range

China's economy is growing within a reasonable range, according to the country's President Xi Jinping.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Xi's comments on Friday.

The world's second largest economy has experienced a difficult year amid falling demand for its exports, weak domestic demand and a cooling housing market.

In the third quarter, the economy grew at its slowest pace for five years when it registered a 7.3% expansion.

The result prompted some analysts to predict that the government would miss its annual growth target of 7.5% for the whole year.