China's economy continued the recovery trend in May amid a steady rebound in demand, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

China's value-added industrial output - a gauge of activity in the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors - grew by 5.6 percent in May from a year earlier after 6.7 percent in April, figures released by the NBS showed. 

Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, rose 3.7 percent year-on-year in May versus the 2.3 percent rise in April. 

Fixed-asset investment - a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment - increased by 4 percent in the January-May period year-on-year, while it grew 4.2 percent in the January-April period.

The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5 percent in May, flat with the figure in April, according to the NBS.

The NBS said the Chinese economy grew steadily in May with improvement in key indicators and new growth drivers gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, the bureau warned of pressures from a lack of effective domestic demand and a more complicated and grimmer external environment, calling for further moves to better implement existing macro policies, foster new quality productive forces and consolidate the economic recovery trend.