LONDON - Business leaders in the United Kingdom have encouraged local firms to grab investment opportunities in China, despite the fact that the country is already one of the biggest investors from the European Union in the Asian economy.

Stephen Phillips, chief executive of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), said in a presentation on Wednesday that "too few UK companies still really understand the nature and the extensive opportunity in modern China".

China is the UK's second-biggest trading partner after the EU, while London is Beijing's third-biggest trade partner in the 27-nation bloc. Total trade volume, reached $39.1 billion in 2009.

Britain has invested $16.75 billion in China so far this year, the most of all 27 EU member states.

Although "around 6,000 UK companies" have invested in China, Phillips said the more that invest, the better.

"China is not a single market. One of the biggest mistakes UK companies make is thinking that they can tag the whole of China. In many ways, it's better to think of China as like the EU," he said, noting that each Chinese province is "more or less the size of" an EU country.

"If businesses think of China as they think of the EU, that's a much better way to approach the market."

Quoting a recent survey the CBBC carried out among UK companies that had invested in China, Phillips said most British firms have good opportunities if they go to China.

And he said 84 percent of UK companies were optimistic about China's economic conditions.

Some 80 percent were optimistic about their corporate performance in China.

And 51 percent thought China will outperform every other market in the world while a further 25 percent said they expect China to be in line with the best-performing markets.

The vast majority expect their revenues to increase.

In addition, the survey showed 77 percent of companies think they will need to recruit more staff in next 12 months, while 65 percent think there will be pressure on salaries. And 59 percent are looking to do more research and development in China.

While Phillips did not mention the sample size, the CBBC, as the UK's leading organization that helps British companies do business in China, has about 1,000 corporate and individual members.

The organization has nine offices in various parts of the UK and 11 across China.

Phillips said he believes British firms will have opportunities in China in various sectors, including healthcare, services industry, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

But he mentioned that British firms also have concerns about doing business in China. Human resources issues are top of the list of concerns closely followed by the transparency of laws and regulation and issues around pollution, bureaucracy and intellectual property rights.

While Phillips called for more UK businesses to look toward China, Stephen Perry, chairman of the 48 Group Club, an independent business network committed to promoting positive links with China, urged corporations in the West not to view China as a mere market but "as a global partner".

Perry said: "Big corporations should be unblocking their minds and thinking of partnering China in global business development in a variety of different forms.

"Now is the time for great innovation."

(China Daily)