Last summer, the Chinese fashion brand Bosideng made its first foray abroad, opening a flagship store in London's West End. The company makes its products in the UK.

"The top brands in the world are in London and Bosideng is here to learn from them and to build itself into a luxury brand," said Zhu Wei, CEO of Bosideng Corp UK.

"We have got the best local designers to join us," he said.

"The UK is the land of thinkers. Chinese manufacturers could learn a lot when they are here," Zhou said.

To further boost investment, the UK is about to introduce Patent Box legislation.

This will come into effect in April 2013 and aims to encourage more companies to invest in patents, research and development through cutting taxes and providing incentives.

GDP growth in the UK in the third quarter was the strongest since the third quarter of 2007. But the Bank of England has said the fourth quarter is likely to see a contraction.

The UK suffered its second recession since the financial crisis between late 2011 and mid-2012.

Economists predict that a pickup in the economy is not likely in the immediate future.

Since the financial crisis, China's ODI has been on the rise and Europe has become an increasingly hot destination.

Since the beginning of 2011, China has conducted 32 mergers and acquisitions throughout Europe, valued at about $15 billion. The deals were mainly in the high-tech fields.

But Chinese proposals and investment deals have been frequently hindered by restrictions in some European nations.

The EU said last year it has been collecting evidence for a potential anti-dumping or anti-subsidy case against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp, the world's leading makers of wireless telecom equipment. This follows a report in the US that the companies were a potential security risk. This allegation was categorically rejected by both companies.

"Fortunately, the policy and regulations here are transparent and well made. More importantly, there are no investment restrictions in the majority of sectors except for military projects and the media industry," said Zhou.

dingqingfen@chinadaily.com.cn