Asian Development Bank (ADB) Wednesday lowered its forecast on China's economic growth in 2012 to 8.5 percent from the previous 9.2 percent in its 2012 Asian Development Outlook.

According to the regional development lender, the Chinese economy is set to slow slightly over the next two years but will still exceed 8 percent, on the back of robust investment, rising private consumption and a more stable global economy.

In its annual economic report the ADB also prejected China's economy to grow by 8.7 percent in 2013 in the support of stronger global growth momentum.

The ADB expected China's exports and imports to increase by around 15 percent and 18 percent in 2012, respectively. The contribution of net exports to GDP growth is projected to remain negative, and the trade surplus will continue narrowing, it said.

China has aimed to increase the volume of total exports and imports by around 10 percent year-on-year in 2012, a sharp slowdown from last year when China's imports and exports rose 22.5 percent year-on-year to 3.64 trillion U.S. dollars.

Nominal private consumption is expected to grow by almost 12 percent in both 2012 and 2013, boosted by continued employment and wage growth as well as increased government social expenditure, according to the ADB report.

China's economy grew by 9.2 percent in 2011 to 47.16 trillion yuan from a year earlier compared to the 10.4-percent growth in 2010.