BERLIN Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:12am EDT

China's growth target of 7 percent for this year is appropriate and the country does not need additional stimulus measures to meet it, deputy finance minister Shi Yaobin told German newspaper Handelsblatt on Thursday.

"I think the state should support the growth target with certain measures. For example with appropriate economic, fiscal and innovation policies. But there is no reason to take additional measures to raise the pace of growth," Yaobin said.

He added that although Chinese growth was not expected to be as strong as in previous years, it was still high compared to other countries.

Weighed down by a property downturn, factory overcapacity and local debt, China's economic growth is expected to slow to a quarter-century low of around 7 percent this year from 7.4 percent in 2014.