Chinese bankers have expressed the most confidence in the macro-economy and the banking industry in four years as they expected cooler economic growth and an unchanged monetary policy in the remaining days of 2010, according to a central bank's survey made public Sunday.

The banker confidence index hit 73.1 percent in the third quarter, up 9.1 percentage points from three months earlier, the highest since the second quarter of 2006, according to the survey result posted on the website of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

The index of bankers' expectation of the macro-economy retreated to 50.6 percent, a loss of 2.7 percentage points from a quarter ago, the first decline since the end of 2009.

China's economy grew 11.9 percent in the first quarter on the back of an export recovery and credit boom, and a lower comparison basis a year ago. It then slowed to 10.3 percent in the second quarter as the government shifted its focus from high growth to sustainability.

The survey also found nearly 70 percent of the bankers thought the current relatively easy monetary policy "appropriate," and more than two thirds of them said they foresaw no policy changes.

Bankers also expected stable and sound development of the banking sector this year, with new lending cooling after the government warned last year's credit expansion could trigger bad loan risks.

The survey covered governors or person-in-charge of the headquarters of the nation's 2,900 banking institutions by the PBOC.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2010)