China grabs top spot as foreign investment hub: survey

Over half of CEOs love China's expanding consumer markets.

According to a PwC survey, CEOs have rated China as the world’s top destination for foreign investment, according to a global survey by PwC and the China Development Research Foundation.

According to the survey report, Choosing China: Improving the investment environment for multinationals, which is launched today at the China Development Forum in Beijing, more than half (56%) of CEOs surveyed chose China above other major and emerging economies including Brazil, Russia, India and the US.

CEOs say they were attracted to China’s expanding consumer markets, skilled talent pool and government incentives.

“A major factor in China’s economic success has been its ability to attract foreign investment,” says Dennis Nally, Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd.

“In 2012, China attracted US$111.7 billion of global FDI. And we predict that China will overtake the US as the world’s largest economy in purchasing parity terms in four years time.”

“But China will face new challenges, as emerging markets become more competitive in attracting foreign investment, widening the breadth of choice for enterprises globally,” he says.

According to the survey, China offers the best prospects for investment among CEOs of consumer, industrial product and service companies (58%). But Brazil is favoured over China by technology businesses (80% and 64% respectively) and the financial services sector (55% and 48% respectively).