European firms 'still confident'

"Foreign companies are restricted in some of China's strategic industries, such as telecommunications," said Cucino.

Cucino said market access is a two-way street in that domestic policies can negatively affect the perception of Chinese companies abroad.

"The vast contrast between market access for European companies in China and Chinese companies investing in Europe causes tensions that may add obstacles to the internationalization of Chinese companies," said the paper.

"Because the EU has been recording a trade deficit with China in recent years, they are expecting to pick up opportunities in the direct investment sector in China, such as in energy, services, and finance," said Liu Mingli, a researcher with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

"The gap between what China can do and what European companies expect is still there, but China is on track for more opening-up and reform," Liu said.

As for the future, Liu said EU companies are tending to adjust their investment structure in China, reducing investment in the traditional manufacturing sector.

"China is undergoing an economic transformation. It has lost some competitiveness in labor-intensive industry," Liu said.

The paper also pointed out China has paved the way for reform and opening-up by such methods as reducing the number of ministries and commissions under the State Council from 27 to 25, the announcement of the creation of the Shanghai Integrated Free Trade Zone, and the elimination of the lending rate floor for commercial loans.

"While China could previously make a choice between economic restructuring and maintaining growth, economic restructuring is now necessary to maintain growth," said the paper.

Consistent with the economic development strategy of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), China has pledged to turn itself into an innovative economy.

Meanwhile, from January to June, the added value of high-tech industries increased by 11.6 percent. High-tech industries and strategic emerging industries are displaying a development momentum.