Business confidence and profitability both increased in the final quarter of last year according to a survey by the Mainland’s central bank, Xinhua reports.

The Government-run news agency reports that the People’s Bank of China survey registered a 2.3-percentage-point increase from the third quarter, 52.6 percent in the fourth quarter compared to 50.3 percent in the previous quarter.

The survey recorded improvements in indexes measuring economic vitality, economic confidence and profitability, which rose to 57.1 percent from 54.7 percent in the third quarter.