In Europe for Europe

Other big problems included obstacles in obtaining visas and work permits for Chinese employees, European labor laws, human resources costs and cultural differences in management style.

Many Chinese companies have found it difficult to employ Chinese workers at their UK subsidiaries, because the British government often rejects their applications to sponsor work permits for their employees who are non-EU nationals.

This is because the government limits the number of work permits granted to 20,700 a year. This quota is then allocated to each professional category.

If the number of applications for work permits made by companies in a particular professional category exceeds the category's quota, generally applicants with the highest salary will get the places, says Xue Haibin, a partner in the London office of Zhong Lun Law Firm.

Xue says that it has been very difficult for his company to secure work permits for employees, because the salary it offers cannot compete with that of the biggest British law firms.

"The minimum salary of a trainee in London is only 20,000 pounds ($30,000), but some large law firms have the financial ability to pay 50,000 pounds," Xue says.

Headquartered in Beijing, Zhong Lun expanded into the UK in 2006, to provide legal services to both Chinese businesses going there and UK businesses expanding into China.

"The British government says that the country is open to businesses, but its regulations show that it isn't so open," Xue says, adding that Zhong Lun may consider investing more in its offices elsewhere that have more open markets.

The company now has overseas offices in Riyadh, Lyon, Paris and major cities in the US.

An alternative way of employing Chinese workers in UK subsidiaries is through intra company transfer (ICT), but this method is very costly.

Under the UK's ICT scheme, foreign companies can only transfer workers to their UK subsidiaries if their salaries are above 24,000 pounds.

However, employees whose annual salary is between 24,000 pounds and 40,000 pounds can work in the UK for only one year, which for most companies is not enough for a worker to fully contribute toward the company's business there.

Those whose annual salary is above 40,000 pounds can stay in the UK to work without time restriction. The UK's average full-time salary was only 26,500 pounds, as of April 2012.

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