CONSUMER confidence in Shanghai rose slightly in the first quarter of this year from the same period a year ago as the city's economy recovered faster compared with other parts of the country, a survey showed yesterday.

The Index of Consumer Sentiment added 1.9 points from a year earlier to 106.8 in the first three months as local residents were more optimistic because Shanghai led other Chinese cities in economic recovery, according to a survey of nearly 1,000 people conducted by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

A reading above 100 means positive sentiment.

"Consumers are cheered by the determination of China's new leadership to sustain economic expansion while improving growth quality," said Xu Guoxiang, program leader and director of the university's Applied Statistics Research Center.

The respondents ranked the city's economic conditions at 131.1, a three-year high, and up 10 points from a year earlier.

Shanghai's gross domestic product grew 7.5 percent year on year in 2012, while it rose 7.4 percent in the first three quarters of last year, according to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau.