The opportunities brought about by Chinese investors should be warmly embraced, said Mario Moretti Polegato, CEO of Italian shoe manufacturer GEOX, who met Li a month ago during Li's visit to Italy.

Many Chinese investors are interested in and looking for business opportunities in Italy, especially with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) there, Polegato said.

Italian SMEs are known for their creativity and would produce very promising results if receiving investment from Chinese investors, he explained.

Commenting on China's economic transition, Philip Jennings, general secretary of Swiss-based UNI Global Union, said that there remains a great potential to be tapped into in China's domestic consumption.

"It is clear that the level of consumption in the overall economic activity of China is only about 30 percent," Jennings said. "If you look at other countries, it's close to 70 percent, so there's clearly much room for domestic consumption and development."