BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese economists showed improving confidence in the country's economic growth for the rest of the year, a survey showed.

The index evaluating economists' confidence in economic growth climbed 23.8 points from the previous quarter to 84 points in the first quarter of 2019, according to a survey of 100 representative economists by the National Bureau of Statistics.

This marked the first rise after the index had fallen for four consecutive quarters.

More economists were optimistic about the economic operation in the next six months compared with the previous survey.

A majority of them predicted China's GDP to expand at 6 to 6.5 percent in 2019.

Most of the economists forecast that housing prices in first-tier and provincial capital cities would stabilize, while those in other smaller cities might drop.

The Chinese economy beat market expectations by growing 6.4 percent in Q1. The government has set its 2019 GDP growth target at 6 to 6.5 percent.