C hina can't expect to sustain double-digit growth in the next decade because the abundant labor that supported its high-flying growth will not exist much longer, an expert on the Chinese economy said at a recent seminar.

In the years leading up to 2020, growth in China's gross domestic product will likely decline to an annual average of 8 percent, not the 9.8 percent it averaged over the past 30 years, said Kwan Chi Hung, senior fellow with the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research.

Kwan was speaking at a March 1 seminar organized by Keizai Koho Center on the theme, "The current state and future prospect of China's economy."