China's entrepreneur confidence index reached 142.0 points in the first quarter of this year, surging past the 140-point barrier for the first time, sources with the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

The index was 8.9 points higher than the year-earlier level, or 6.7 points higher than the fourth quarter of 2006, the sources added.

According to a nationwide survey conducted by the bureau of 19,500 enterprises of all types, 48.4 percent of the entrepreneurs said they were optimistic about the overall performance of their industries, and another 45.1 percent considered their sectors to have changed little.

The entrepreneurs were more confident about the national economy, the bureau said.

Entrepreneurs from the mining industry were most confident, while those from the manufacturing sector posted the biggest year-on-year growth in confidence at 13.3 points, according to the survey results.

The Entrepreneur Confidence Index measures the understanding, views and projections of entrepreneurs.

Source: Xinhua