As the global economy begins to show signs of recovery, CEOs around the world are starting to shift from survival mode and focusing on growth instead. The findings of PwC's 17th Annual Global CEO Survey show that 31 percent global asset management CEOs think China is the most important for their growth. Mature markets and China are priorities for growth in 2014.

The survey shows that 52 percent of China's CEOs see their best prospects in new product or service innovations, higher than global average of 35 percent. When the CEOs were asked about the type of change program they were most likely to have completed or have underway, the most common response from Chinese CEOs (38 percent) was related to research and development (R&D) and innovation capacity. 37 percent of China's CEOs plan to increase headcount by more than 5 percent next year, considerably higher than their global peers - only 25 percent of them plan to make similar increase.

When it comes to more immediate plan for growth, compared to their global peers, China's CEOs are more willing to focus on domestic market. They are the least likely to be looking for geographic market for growth - only 5 percent compared to the global average of 14 percent.

Stable economic development and increasingly important global status is the cornerstone of China’s appealing domestic market. "The environment and enterprises’ consciousness towards innovation become impetus to China's economic transformation and long-term sustainable economic development," said David Wu, PwC China Beijing Senior Partner.

The article is edited and translated from《中国市场最受全球CEO重视》, source: People's Daily, author: Liu Zhiqiang.