He said Chinese businesses make important contributions to the UK economy by generating and sustaining jobs, and their relationship with local suppliers allows those British businesses to join the global supply chain.

Zhou Xiaoming, commerce minister counselor of the Chinese embassy in the UK, said Chinese companies have been diversifying their investment in the UK over the years, moving from traditional finance, trade and telecommunications to advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, branding and research and development.

Zhou said this diversification of the Sino-UK business relationship has promoted the growth of Chinese companies and helped them go global.

He said he believes the UK-China business relationship will continue to grow because China and Britain are complementary economies. "Britain has abundant experience in the service and creative industries and technical innovation, while China, as an emerging market, offers capital and a large potential market."

Since 2009, China's investment in the United Kingdom, including direct investment and mergers and acquisitions, has maintained strong momentum and reached $12.4 billion in total.

Over the past 18 months, Chinese investment has exceeded the total of the previous 30 years. The UK has been China's leading investment destination in Europe. Since the beginning of this year, there has been a surge of project investment.

Chinese companies have invested or plan to invest in more than 10 big projects in Britain worth nearly $5 billion.