BEIJING, Oct.13 (Xinhua) -- China's entrepreneur expectation index rose to 120.1 in the third quarter, up 9.9 points from the previous quarter, said the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

    The index, a gauge of the understanding, views and projections of entrepreneurs, was 19 points higher than that of the first quarter.

    The index ranges from zero to 200. A reading above 100 shows the entrepreneurs are optimistic about the markets.

    Entrepreneurs have shown growing confidence in most sectors. The confidence of businessmen in the manufacturing sector grew 9.9points to 115.1 compared with the second quarter.

    Entrepreneurs of foreign companies and companies with investment from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan reported expectation index growth of 12.6 points over a quarter earlier.

    The indices of businessmen at large, medium and small-sized enterprises rose by 15.6 points, 9.5 points and 8.5 points to 133.8 points, 120.5 points and 108 points respectively.