High stakes in investment race

So far, much of China's ODI, apart from in Asia, has been targeted at Latin America, Africa and Australia, where China has made strategic investments in resource industries to satisfy its economy's increasing demand for raw materials.

In the six years up to 2008, nearly a third (32.37 percent) of China's ODI went to Latin America with 5.06 percent to Africa, 2.02 percent to Oceania (which includes Australia) and 2.21 percent to North America, according to the Statistical Bulletin of China's Outward Direct Investment.

China's ODI in Europe has been growing on an unprecedented scale, however, and soared by 297 percent last year to $2.13 billion.

Much of this is now in evidence right across the continent. One of the biggest ODI investments this year has been China National Chemical Corporation's $2.2 billion acquisition of Elkem, the leading Norwegian supplier of metals and minerals and which makes the silicon products that go into solar panels.

China Investment Corporation (CIC), the China government's sovereign wealth fund and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), have made or are in the process of making a number of direct investments in companies throughout Europe.

According to The Economist magazine, SAFE holds stakes of $18.6 billion in companies in the London FTSE index of the top 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, nearly 1 percent of the value of the entire index.

China's ODI also consists of private wealthy individuals buying up luxury properties in Europe's capitals.

According to estate agents Knight Frank, the Chinese were the biggest purchasers of prime central London property in the year up to March, spending on average 6.5 million pounds (7.4 million euros) on each transaction.