Sixty-seven per cent of French companies and 75 per cent of German companies prefer joint ventures with Asian firms while only a quarter of UK firms are considering this option. Those companies which are already trading in Asia prefer a joint venture followed by direct exports. German companies, however, prefer to acquire Asian businesses, the study further revealed.

Kojima added: "We have already seen that European companies turn to mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures in Asia to fuel their ambitions and market share in the region. As our report shows, this is an option which is being actively considered alongside greenfield investment and organic growth by many UK, German and French companies. The trend of more deals is something that we would expect to continue and to grow."

The study also included a comparison of Asian investments in Europe at two levels -- perceived investment interests and actual investments.

The report noted that companies from the three European countries do not value Asian investments in Europe as much. Only a third, or 33 per cent, of companies from the three major European countries regard investments from Asia as important for their businesses over the next five years.

In reality, however, since 2006, Asian companies have invested almost double what the European companies have invested in Asia.