Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises showed stronger confidence in economic growth in the first quarter, expecting faster improvement of the business environment in the coming months, said a report from Standard Chartered on Wednesday.

An index showed SMEs' confidence rose to 56.51 — the highest level in a year — in the first three months, up by 9 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2012, the report showed.

Enterprises in the middle and western regions were more optimistic about the future's growth, while companies from the eastern provinces still worry about the macro economic situation.

"The external economic recovery and the rebound of Chinese exports may strengthen the new orders' growth," the report said. "But the small-scale businesses will still face challenges of overseas uncertain economic environment and rising production costs."

The sub-index to show investment confidence increased to 57.51 from January to March, compared with 43.6 in the fourth quarter last year.

Confidence in the macro economy rose to 54.87 from 51.19, the report said.

Standard Chartered's SME Confidence Index is based on a quarterly survey covering 1,000 samples from 20 cities, including chemical material producing, transportation equipment manufacturing and electronic machinery and equipment manufacturing industries.