According to the results of nationwide survey showed that entrepreneur confidence index (ECI) gained 94.6 in the fourth quarter of 2008, dropped 29.2 over the previous quarter.

The ECIs for industry amounted to 87.2, that of transport storage and postal industry amounted to 95.6, that of construction hit 114.5, that of wholesale and retail trades hit 106.2, that of social services hit 102.4, that of information transmission computer service and software industry reached 137.2, and that of accommodation and catering industry reached 102.0. The ECIs of various types of industries fell over than the third quarter and same period of previous year.

The ECIs of state-owned enterprises stood at 100.8, that of collective enterprises hit 83.3, that of joint-stock cooperative enterprises reached 93.3, that of limited liability company amounted to 94.1, that of private enterprises hit 90.4, and that of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and foreign-invested enterprises hit 88.2, which all declined over the third quarter and same period of previous year.

The ECIs of small scale enterprises stood at 94.1, dropped 17.9 and 27.6 points over the third quarter and same period of previous year, that of medium scale enterprises stood at 97.7, declined 19.8 and 32.9 points over the third quarter and same period of previous year, that of large scale enterprises stood at 89.0, went down 44.3 and 67.2 points over the third quarter and same period of previous year.

The ECIs of eastern, central and western regions stood at 90.1, 99.3 and 101.1 respectively.

(National Bureau of Statistics January 12, 2009)