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China ranks first in US business climate survey
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-01 08:55

NEW YORK -- China was ranked as the best country outside the United States for business investment, according to a latest survey of top US corporate executives released here this week.

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The "Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing" survey has been conducted every three years by a leading US marketing organization Development Counsellors International (DCI) since 1996. This is the first year respondents were asked to rank the business favor ability of the world's 25 largest countries, based on their GDP, outside the United States.

More than half of the 281 corporate executives who responded to the survey named China as the most favorable country. India was second with 45.1 percent, followed by Mexico, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The corporate decision-makers who named China as the best for investment most frequently cited its "growing economy/business opportunities," "labor cost" and "low overall/operating costs" as reasons for their positive perceptions.

With the global battle for business more intense than ever, perceptions about a location's business climate often play a crucial role in site selection decisions, said DCI President Andrew T. Levine.