BEIJING -- Chinese stock investors' confidence rose to the highest level since April 2008 as multiple factors boosted equity markets in September, according to a survey released on Monday.

Conducted by the China Securities Investor Protection Funds, the survey found that September's investor confidence index for the A-share markets stood at 70.5 on a scale of 100 points, up 1.3 percent from August and 20.5 percent from a year ago.

Five sub-indexes on stock value and willingness to buy stocks rose across the board amid improved market sentiment and ample liquidity, with the September confidence index and stock value index at their highest marks since April 2008 when the indexes were created.

Nearly 60 percent of investors expected the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index to rise in October, according to the survey.

For long-term predictions, 57.9 percent of investors were optimistic about China's stock markets in the fourth quarter, while 58.1 percent of investors held rosy expectations toward the performance in the coming six months.

Only 7.7 percent of investors thought the stock markets could fall in the October-March period.

Based on such widespread optimism, 45.5 percent of investors planned to increase stock investment in the fourth quarter of this year, the survey showed.

However, investors' confidence about the Chinese economy weakened by 3.9 points to 71.3 in September, according to the survey.

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