Chinese economic confidence retreating: PBOC survey

Chinese entrepreneurs and bankers have become less optimistic about the country's economic conditions, central bank data revealed on Wednesday.

Its entrepreneurs confidence index came in at 64.9 percent in the second quarter of 2014, retreating 2.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a report, citing results from a survey of over 5,900 Chinese entrepreneurs.

In a separate report based on a survey of 3,100 bankers, the PBOC said their quarter-two confidence index was down 13.9 percentage points from the previous quarter to 53.7 percent.

China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent in the first quarter, marking the lowest quarterly expansion since the third quarter of 2012, but a string of key indicators showed the economy is gradually gaining strength.

Growth in the manufacturing sector continued to accelerate in May, hitting a five-month high that pointed to a stabilizing economy.

Despite the improving signs, the surveys found that more people are concerned about employment. Of the 20,000 savers the central bank surveyed, around 43.8 percent considered employment conditions as "harsh" or "murky," and their expectation index was 47.8 percent, down 2.1 percentage points from a quarter earlier.

Wednesday's reports also show that home prices are still a major issue of public concern, with 63 percent of people surveyed describing prices as "high and hard to accept," down 1.3 percentage points from the previous quarter.

Some 50.3 percent reported that they expect home prices to remain unchanged in the third quarter, while 21.2 percent predicted rises.

The changing outlook came as China's property sector continued to cool in May, as new home prices in half of a sample of 70 major cities showed month-on-month drops.