Chinese investors are getting more optimistic in the domestic equity market, boosted by the 4-trillion-yuan (US$584.8 billion) economic stimulus package, according to a survey released in Beijing on Tuesday.

The investor sentiment index for China rose to 103 in the fourth quarter of 2008, up from 88 in the third quarter, according to the survey by the ING, an international financial service provider based in the Netherlands.

This made China the second "optimistic" market in Asia after Indonesia, according to the report.

The survey, through online interviews, covered more than 1,300 Chinese investors above the age of 30 and with assets of at least 100,000 U.S. dollars.

About 50 percent of the investors surveyed believe the country's economy would go better in the first quarter this year, compared with 38 percent for the fourth quarter in 2008.

The ING survey considered the 4-trillion-yuan economic stimulus package announced in November as the key factor to boost up the investor sentiment.

China's key Shanghai index has gained 6.4 percent since the central government announced the package in November.

Seventy-eight percent of the investors surveyed hold that the package would have a positive influence on the economy, while 67 percent said they would make more investments in the first quarter of 2009 because of the package.

According to the survey, 29 percent of the Chinese investors planned to increase investment in the domestic equity market in the first quarter. In a previous survey, 13 percent of the investors said they would invest more in the fourth quarter stock market of 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)