But those conversations should start again, he says.

Breslin says China's new financial power is the direct result of its own outward investments, and that they have reshaped the global political economy, particularly in relation to US hegemony.

This has huge implications for emerging economies, he says, such as those in Africa where inward investments can lack the regulatory comfort of some Western democracies.

China's increasing investment in other parts of the world including East Asia, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, are also creating new and stronger political ties for the country, he says.

Back in Europe, Breslin thinks China's investments are already proving beneficial for all concerned.

Europe has now become the world's largest recipient of investment by Chinese firms, allowing China to step up its own international reach, while at the same time injecting funds that are being welcomed by a continent plagued by recession and in desperate need of hard cash.

Breslin says their increasingly tight business relationship is strengthened by closer government-level relations, in contrast to growing political tensions being experienced by some Chinese companies in other markets.

Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE, for example, have both encountered restrictions in markets like the US and Australia, but have found Europe to be completely open to them.

"China isn't seen so much as a threat to Europe, maybe because in Europe we're more realistic about our place in the world," he says.

Services sector expands with manufacturing	Services trade growth outpaces that of goods