"It appears that only in India and China is there overall a balance of CEOs who believe their government is both business-friendly and reducing the regulatory burden," PricewaterhouseCoopers Annual Global CEO Survey said.

Around 34 per cent of corporate honchos in India believe that the government here, where their company is headquartered, is creating a business friendly environment and 20 per cent said the country has reduced the regulatory burden on corporations, the report said.

In both the cases India has been ranked ahead of China. In China only 10 per cent believe their government has created a business friendly environment and 8 per cent think their regulatory burdens have been reduced.

In France, CEOs believe the government to be business friendly but not reducing the burden on corporations, while in in contrast, Japan is the only other country where government is seen to be taking step to cut down regulatory hurdles, although it is not perceived to be very friendly.

The governments of other countries, including the UK, US, Italy, Spain and Russia, meanwhile feels that their governments have not done much to improve the regulatory system and business friendly environment, the report  pointed out.

The priorities that figured in the CEOs' list for government action include labour laws, tax regime, education, law and enforcement, environmental legislation, healthcare, product safety regulation among others.

About taxation, which figures a one of the most import issue of CEOs, the report said, while chief executives in Brazil, Canada, Italy and Russia regard reformation of tax rules as particularly important, Indian and Dutch CEOs see it as a pressing concern.

Indian, Italian and Russian CEOs lead the world in calling for changes in law and order, as they place it second in the order of their priority.

The survey titled 'Regulate and collaborate: Government and the Global CEO' examines the evolving relationship between government and business in a connected world. Over 1,150 company leaders from 50 countries shared their views at survey, besides thoughts of government officials were also taken note of.

According to the report the top five concerns for CEOs include -- downturn in major economies, over regulation, low cost competition, energy security and scarcity of natural resources.

Though Asia Pacific CEOs are more confident than those elsewhere about the future growth of their business, they are also concerned about all the risks noted by the respondents.

Chief executives in the Asia Pacific region consider that the collaboration both with government and within the business community would be critical, with 90 per cent taking this view.