China's consumer confidence index (CCI) rose to 103.9 in the fourth quarter last year, up 3.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, said a report released Tuesday by the China Economic Monitoring & Analysis Center under the National Bureau of Statistics.

The rise was largely due to consumers' optimistic judgement on the country's economic outlook and strong expectation for employment and personal income, said the report.

It also showed 79 percent of Chinese consumers were optimistic toward the country's macroeconomic situation, an increase of 36 percentage points from the third quarter.

The report revealed that personal income and health remained top concerns, with 43 percent of respondents saying they paid close attention to the issue of personal income.

Some 68 percent of respondents expected price rises this year.

The CCI measures consumers' opinions on employment, the economy, regular income, the stock market and quality of life.

China's economy expanded 8.7 percent in 2009 from a year earlier, exceeding the government's annual growth target of 8 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2010)