Looking ahead

Some companies are thinking now about moving to China's inland and western regions when the wages in coastal regions grow. Nearly half, 47.8 percent of the respondents, said moving to rural areas is "important but not urgent". Almost 30 percent said that rural expansion is "very urgent" to their businesses.

According to the draft of the 12th Five-Year Plan, China plans to boost the average income of people living in rural areas by 7 percent yearly and will greatly expand health insurance coverage across the country.

Of the executives surveyed, 20.3 percent regarded rural expansion as "not necessary" to their companies. Most of the respondents that don't have rural expansion plans are financial, legal or consulting firms.

"The Chinese leadership is looking at rural areas and underdeveloped areas for the development of new domestic demand, and looking at institutional reforms to remove various distortions that have been responsible for the economic imbalance," Ren Xianfang, senior China analyst from IHS Global Insight, said in a research note sent to media. That, he said, is expected to significantly increase the purchasing power of people living in small cities and rural areas.

Wang Xiaotian, Li Fangfang, Hu Yuanyuan and Cai Xiao contributed to this story.