Chinese economists expect to see lower inflation and more government stimulus in the third quarter, and higher confidence in the second half of this year.

The quarterly survey from the China Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center under the National Bureau of Statistics was conducted among 78 leading economists, and showed that 72 percent of them expected higher than 8 percent growth this year supported by further economic policies.

The survey's overall index, which indicates respondents' confidence in the country's economic situation, is expected to rebound to 4.8 in the second quarter, compared with 4.48 in the first three months. The evaluation range for the index is from 1 to 9.

Respondents said they expected China's inflation rate to ease in July, because of continued low food prices, giving the government more leeway to loosen price policies, economists said.