China's stimulus spending may add as much as 1.9 percentage points to economic expansion and help the government achieve its growth target this year, according to the State Council's research group.  "China has the ability to become the first in the world to step out of the crisis and keep  stable growth for the mid and long term," Zhang Yutai, director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said in a live broadcast from the China Development Forum in Beijing today.  Vice Premier Li Keqiang reaffirmed China's goal of 8 percent growth at today's forum, saying some industries "have seen signs of recovery." China is targeting expansion in 2009 even as economies from the U.S. across to Japan contract. The nation's economy is showing "early signs" of stabilizing as government-backed investment counters a slump in exports, the World Bank said March 18. Investment in China rose 26.5 percent in the first two months of 2009 and bank loans quadrupled in February, indications the government's 4 trillion Yuan ($585 billion) stimulus plan is starting to feed into the economy.