According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the entrepreneur confidence index in China increased to 120.1 in the third quarter of 2009: an increase of 9.9 points compared with that of previous quarter.
The index, which measures the understanding, views, and projections of entrepreneurs, ranges from zero to 200. When it is higher than 100, it indicates optimism for an economic boom. But when it is lower than 100, it means there is an expectation of economic downturn.
In the third quarter, the indices for manufacturing; construction; transportation and postal services; wholesale and retailing; real estate; social services; information transmission, computer services and software; and the hospitality and food industry; all increased and reached 116.3, 133.8, 115.1, 123.8, 126.4, 118.5, 150.5, and 116.7, respectively. Of these, the index for the social services sector grew the most: increasing by 18.9 points compared to the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the ECI of various types of businesses also continued to rise with the indices for state-owned enterprises; collective enterprises; holding companies; limited liabilities companies; private enterprises; foreign-funded enterprises and enterprises with investments from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan reaching 119.0, 103.2, 109.3, 117.0, 125.2, 112.6 and 125.5, respectively. Of these, the ECI for Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan invested companies showed the greatest increase.
In the third quarter, the ECI of large, medium sized, and small enterprises all showed an overall increase and reached 133.8, 120.5 and 108.0, respectively. In addition, the ECI of enterprises in the east, middle and west parts of the country all went up and reached 117.9, 123.1, and 121.4, which were increases of 10.5, 9.8 and 8.2 points, respectively, compared with the second quarter of the year.