South China's booming Guangdong Province saw its economy grow 9.5 percent annually in 2009, one percentage point higher than the government target, governor HuangHuahua said here Wednesday.

The upbeat economic data came on the heels of massive economic stimulus and huge increases in bank loans aimed at reviving economy amid the global financial crisis.

The gross domestic product (GDP) rose to 3.776 trillion yuan (553 billion U.S. dollars) last year, Huang cited initial estimate as saying at a conference.

The provincial government has set the GDP growth target for 2010 at 9 percent, Huang said.

Guangdong's economy expanded 5.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2009, lower than the 6.1 percent nationwide, as the financial crisis took a heavy toll on the province, dubbed China's "factory of the world".

But the growth accelerated to 8.6 percent in the first three quarters of 2009, 0.9 percentage points higher than the national average rate.

Last year, the province invested 330 billion yuan (48.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 10 projects that cost a total of 2.3 trillion yuan.

However, the economic recovery in Guangdong, which boasts bigger GDP than any other mainland regions, was not firm, the governor said.

The economy still faced severe challenges as there was difficulty in boosting consumer spending when the effect of government stimulus measures faded, Huang stated.

The government would unveil measures to spur domestic demand and remove barriers to boost private investment this year, he said, without elaborating.