President Xi Jinping meets with Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in March. Xinhua

"Projects cover a wide range of economic fields, from infrastructure, commercial property, brand networks to research and development centers and high-end manufacturing," says Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK.

More than 500 Chinese companies have businesses in the UK and, according to the UK Department of Trade and Industry, Chinese investment created more than 6,000 jobs in Britain during the 2014-15 budget year, ranking fourth among all foreign countries.

Telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, which opened its first office in the UK in 2001, contributed 956 million pounds ($1.4 billion; 1.3 billion euros) to GDP in the UK. It has supported 7,400 jobs directly and through its supply chain in the past three years, according to a report published in June by Oxford Economics, a British think tank.

Many Chinese companies are harnessing Britain's resources, industrial know-how and technology to produce quality products in the UK.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which bought the iconic London Taxi Co in 2013, announced this year that it would invest 250 million pounds in a new facility.

"The investment is to develop and produce the next-generation, ultra-low emissions London black cab. We expect to generate up to 1,000 new jobs," says Li Shufu, founder and chairman of Geely.

Britain was also the first major country to agree to a currency swap with China, signing a deal last year worth 200 billion yuan ($31.5 billion).

Overall renminbi trading volumes in London rose 143 percent last year compared with 2013 as average daily volumes reached $61.5 billion, according to the City of London Corp.

In another sphere, hundreds of joint education programs, tourism promotions and cultural activities have brought Chinese and Britons closer on a personal level.

More than 150,000 Chinese students were enrolled at British schools and colleges last year, while in China, UK schools are running nine joint education institutions and 235 education projects.

The number of Chinese tourists last year was 230,000, and could reach 650,000 by 2020, according to British estimates.

"Chinese visitors have very positive perceptions of Britain. They already stay longer here than in our European competitor destinations and are high spenders," says Sally Balcombe, CEO of VisitBritain. "We aim to double the current annual expenditure in the UK by Chinese visitors to 1 billion pounds a year within the next five years."