Nation's CEOs more upbeat on growth than peers, survey says

Leaders of Chinese companies are more confident about business growth in 2014 than their international peers, and the country remains at the top of the list of investment destinations for global executives this year, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.

PwC's 17th Annual Global CEO Survey found that 96 percent of Chinese CEOs are somewhat or very confident of growth in the next 12 months, considerably higher than the global average of 85 percent.

More than half of the Chinese CEOs expect to add staff in the coming year, with only a handful planning to shed jobs.

At 33 percent, China is at the top of the list for global CEOs as their most important growth market. Next come the United States (30 percent) and Germany (17 percent).

Last year, the top three economies for CEOs were China, the US and Brazil.

The rise of confidence in China's economy is linked to the ongoing global recovery and the continued strong performance of the domestic economy, according to Dennis Nally, PwC's international chairman.

In 2013, China's GDP grew by 7.7 percent and 13 million jobs were created. The outlook for this year "is equally strong, with China expected to reach its 7.5 percent growth target", said Nally.

Other international institutions have issued similar assessments. Moody's Investors Service Inc expects China's economic growth to remain relatively robust. It's forecasting expansion of 7.5 percent in 2014 and 7 percent in 2015 as the authorities begin to implement the structural adjustment policies.

The rising indebtedness of local governments and companies is expected to weigh on economic activity in the years ahead, Moody's said.

According to the PwC survey, Chinese CEOs identified three major transformation trends: technology, urbanization and shifts in global economic power.

"CEOs need to think deeply about how they evolve their companies to compete in an increasingly digitally enabled world," said Nally.

"That is not just about how technology changes (companies') relationship to their increasingly mobile, digitally connected customer base, but how technology may affect their business model itself," he added.

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