Walker says he is "on the side of what's best for snooker"
The head of snooker's governing body has held talks with both Sheffield and Beijing over where the World Championship will be staged after 2010.
The Crucible hosts the next two events, but World Snooker chairman Sir Rodney Walker is looking at other offers.
"I'm in the middle of discussions with Sheffield about the future, as indeed I talked to the Chinese when I was in Beijing last weekend," he told the BBC.
"China, or indeed Dubai, may have very deeper pockets than Sheffield."
Sheffield has hosted the sport's most prestigious tournament since 1977, but Walker says it is his responsibility to protect snooker's future as it competes with other sports for television revenue.
"I'm on the side of what's best for snooker," Walker told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme.
"You can't ignore the popularity of the sport in China.
"We've been very fortunate that in the last three years, having taken an event over there at our own expense, they've picked it up.
"Now we have two ranking tournaments there, one of which had an audience of 100 million people, simply because of the sheer numbers of people out there."
World Snooker has been criticised for not doing enough to keep the sport in the public eye.
World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan branded snooker a "dying" sport and called for the governing body to seek ways to revitalise it.
Two-time world champion John Higgins has also been critical of the inability of World Snooker to promote the game overseas.
In August last year, the sport's two biggest sponsors - World Championship backers 888.com and Saga Insurance, who supported the Wembley Masters - terminated their contracts, costing the game £1.5m.
Last week World Snooker announced it had agreed a four-year deal with online bookmakers Betfred.com to sponsor the World Championship until 2012.
Walker also announced an initiative to trial a new shorter form of the game - 'Super6s' - alongside the main event at the World Championship.
This year's tournament gets under way in Sheffield next Saturday, 18 April.
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