The Chinese mainland economy will see "slower but higher quality growth" in the second half of this year, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China International said, retaining its 6.7 percent full-year prediction for GDP growth.

In the first quarter of this year economic expansion hit an 18-month high of 6.9 percent year-on-year. Cheng Shi, chief economist of ICBC International, noted the rebound was mainly driven by the fiscal, monetary and exchange-rate easing expansion in the fourth quarter of year 2015; this boost is not expected to continue beyond the second quarter of this year.

Financial tightening moves such as deleveraging should lead to a pull-back in the second half. But deeper supply-side reform and improved consumption - with internal consumption being the main growth driver amid a weak global recovery - will lead to higher quality growth, Cheng said at a media briefing on Monday.