DAVOS, Switzerland - Business leaders considered China as the most important country for future economic growth, a survey showed on Tuesday.

In a worldwide poll of 1,201 CEOs, China was named by 39 percent of them as the No 1 growth engine, followed by the 21 percent for the United States, 19 percent for Brazil and 18 percent for India, according to PwC's 14th Annual Global CEO Survey, which was released here on the eve of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Global CEOs also saw China, the US and India as the most important future sources for products and raw materials.

Regionally, 90 percent of CEOs said they expect their operations to grow in Asia in the next 12 months, followed by Latin America's 84 percent, Africa's 75 percent, the Middle East's 72 percent and Eastern Europe's 70 percent.