Multinational companies will start deploying more executives in China and India as demand stagnates in Western markets, said a report released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on Thursday.

The EIU report said nearly 40 percent of the multinational companies covered under its survey planned to boost hiring in the two nations.

According to the report, the most popular destination for expatriates is China, with 35 percent of the respondents considering it to be among the top three locations.

Nearly 16 percent of the respondents said India was the second-best destination in Asia.

Paul Lewis, the editor of the report, said studies on the hiring patterns and areas of operations help provide an insight into the broader trends in globalization.

Over 80 percent of the respondents said an emerging market assignment helps in career advancement.

Most of foreign managers felt that the business skills of domestic employees need to be honed further, so that they can take up the senior managerial positions later.

Moreover, companies are also now increasingly selecting managers from emerging markets to run other regions.

Helen Walter, a respondent from AstraZeneca International, said the British drugmaker has gained significant competitive advantages from these moves in China.

Some of the respondents felt that their head offices were not equipped adequately to understand the nature of the local business environment, while others felt there was excessive interference.

Cultural sensitivity, according to nearly 75 percent of the respondents, was the most important attribute for running businesses in other countries.

Premier Wen Jiabao spoke at the 2010 Summer Davos in Tianjin earlier this week that China's economic growth has provided major development opportunities for multinationals and created huge demand for major economies.

Wen also pledged to uphold all policies conducive to opening-up, noting that foreign enterprises will continue to enjoy an open and fair environment in China.

EIU is the business-to-business arm of The Economist Group, which publishes The Economist magazine.

The survey was conducted online in July, among 418 senior executives working in 77 countries.

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