BEIJING - A recent survey has found that individual investors in China's stock market have become more rational, and they expect more reforms in the capital market.

Conducted by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the survey revealed that most individual investors prefer value investment to short-term trading in 2017, showing the rising trend of investor rationality.

Most individual investors expect more capital market reforms in 2018 and nearly 90 percent respondents hope to see enhanced support for high-tech startups in the growth enterprise market.

Four out of 10 individual investors are optimistic about the stock market this year, up 10.8 percent from last year, while less than 1 percent are pessimistic, down 4.9 percent year-on-year, and half of respondents remain neutral.

The survey also found that 75.1 percent of investors are medium and small investors, whose value of securities account are below 500,000 yuan ($79,000).

The survey was conducted among 15,890 respondents trading stocks in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in 307 Chinese cities in the past year.

China's stock market in 2017 was much steadier compared with a year earlier. Only three trading days registered changes beyond 2 percent last year, and the fluctuation ratio of the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index recorded a historic low of 13.98 percent, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission.