Chinese bankers were more confident of the economic outlook in China in the second quarter despite the cooling of the economy, according to a central bank's survey released Thursday.

The banker confidence index hit 57 percent in the second quarter, up 1.7 percentage points from the first quarter, according to the survey result posted on the website of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

The index has risen for two quarters in a row, according to the PBOC.

The survey found 38.4 percent of the bankers thought China's current macro economy was "relatively heated," down 5.5 percentage points from previous quarter; while 54.4 percent said the economy was "normal," up 2.8 percentage points from the first quarter.

When asked about the economic outlook for the third quarter, 31.4 percent of bankers expected the economy to remain "relatively heated," 59.7 percent said it would remain "normal" while the rest thought the economy would cool down.

The survey found 35.6 percent of the bankers considered the country's current monetary policy "appropriate," 3.8 percentage points less than the previous quarter.

Regarding the policy outlook for the third quarter, one third of bankers anticipated the current monetary policy would remain unchanged, while 65.5 percent expected more tightening, and 1.4 percent thought it would loosen.

As for the interest rate, 68.2 percent of bankers said the central bank would continue to raise the benchmark interest rate in the third quarter, while 31.6 percent expected the rate to remain unchanged.

According to the survey, China's banking industry confidence index continued to weaken 0.2 percentage points from the first quarter to 83.8 percent in the second quarter amid the country's tightening measures to dampen soaring inflation and curb housing price hikes.

The bank profitability index, however, rose 3.9 percentage points in the second quarter, indicating banks had improved their ability for profits in the period despite the country's tightening measures.

The survey covered governors or persons-in-charge of the headquarters of the nation's 3,000 banking institutions.

A reading above 50 percent of the indexes indicate expansion of economic activities, while an indicator below 50 percent suggests economic contraction.