The National Bureau of Statistics  data  show that China's retail sales, industrial output and bank lending grew in May.

China's annual industrial output grew by 8.9 percent  year on year in May, which is higher than the  7.3 percent growth rate in April. In the  first five months,  average factory output was up 6.3 percent over the same period last year.

In retail sales, May’s growth rate  rose to 15.2 percent from 14.8 percent in April. Average retail sales rose 15 percent in the five months of 2009.

The latest report, suggested  the effect of the  stimulus spending during the collapse in demand for exports that wiped out millions of Chinese factory jobs.

"May's industrial production result confirms the effectiveness so far of the Chinese authorities' stimulus efforts," said economist Matt Robinson of Moody's Economy.com in a report.  However, he emphasized that  weak demand for Chinese exports means "industrial production growth will be far below the stellar rates recorded in the past few years."

Chinese leaders and economists have warned that  the recovery is still tentative and vulnerable to changes in the global economy.

Products that benefitted from the economic stimulus packages by the government  enjoyed double-digit growths  in May while those that depended mainly on exports had lower growths , like the electronics sector, which drew by just 4.3 percent. 

The economy grew by 6.1 percent in Q1 of the year, the highest  rate of any major economy but below the government target and the World Bank’s forecast of   8 percent and 6.5 percent respectively for the year.

May bank lending surged 30.6 percent from the same time last year to 665 billion yuan ($97 billion), up from April's 29.7 percent growth and 590 billion yuan ($86 billion) in loans, the central bank reported.

Consumers and investors are still wary, despite the improving economic indicators.

The central bank said Friday a new quarterly survey found only 15.1 percent of consumers surveyed are willing to spend more money, down 14.6 percentage points from the first three months of the year.

There were no details about the  proportion of people surveyed but the result published shows that  47 percent  plan to increase the amount of money they save.