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Confidence in Hong Kong's trade sector has improved but is still weak, according to the latest HKTDC Export Confidence Index released on Wednesday by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).

The quarterly-released index, which reflects the business sentiment of local exporters, stood at 25.8 in the first quarter of this year, compared with 22.3 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

This is still very downbeat as any reading below 50 signifies exporters are pessimistic about the outlook, said the council in a statement.

"Although export confidence in the first quarter improved slightly, the general economic outlook remains difficult," said HKTDC Chief Economist Edward Leung.

However, export confidence improved in all major markets, with the Chinese mainland at 45.5, continuing to lead the pack.

"Among all the markets, HK exporters are most confident toward the Chinese mainland, as they believe the Chinese government is more capable of dealing with the financial crisis than any other countries and China is likely to be the very first country recovering from the economic downturn," Leung said.

What's more, all industries showed a rebound in confidence, with the index for timepieces seeing the biggest rise from 17.5 to 28.5.

The index reading is based on a survey of 500 Hong Kong companies that source, produce and sell, according to the HKTDC.

Source:Xinhua