"European property has always been a well-functioning asset and is highly attractive from a Chinese portfolio management standpoint. Interest has risen due to the weaker euro and insecurities on Chinese stock markets."
Paloma Perez Bravo at E& V's office in Madrid added that there has also been an increase in Chinese investment in Spain.
"Three percent of overseas buyers were from China in 2013. The following year it was 3.4 percent. We don't have the statistics for this year yet, but we expect it to be about 4 percent. So Chinese buyers are increasing year-on-year," she said. "In Q2 this year, we had many Chinese buying houses in Madrid. In Q4 2014, it was a very good time, as a lot of Chinese people came to ask about properties."
As in London, Dalian Wanda showed its ambitions to go global last year by acquiring the Edificio Espana, a Madrid landmark that was Europe's tallest building when it was completed in 1953. The company paid Grupo Santander 260 million euros ($282 million) to secure the historic structure.
While the recent stock market turmoil could see more Chinese money flow into European property markets, industry insiders said the trend over the past few years has come about from a complex set of factors. Chief among them are China's enormous overcapacity and the sluggish domestic property market, which have prompted wealthy people to diversify with offshore assets.
Walter Boettcher, research director and economist at global realtors Colliers International, based in the UK, said: "When we (Europe) went into the financial downturn, there was a lot of uncertainty, so obviously the Chinese, like many other foreign investors, were looking for safe places to invest. There was a bit of a push factor, too.
"The Chinese (companies) realized they were very exposed to dollar-denominated economies, and in some measure they were looking at the UK, and even Europe, as a means of diversifying their exposure to various currencies."
Air pollution and health and social services issues have also led many Chinese individuals to buy property in the developed countries to which they may eventually emigrate.
"What's more, the Chinese government is encouraging companies to go out and invest in overseas markets," added Rasheed Hassan, director of cross-border investment at Savills.
Insurance giant China Life is one of the biggest corporations to follow that advice, buying No 10 Upper Bank St－an iconic skyscraper in London's Canary Wharf－for 795 million pounds last year.
Simon Barrowcliff, executive director of central London capital markets at CBRE, a commercial real estate company, explained that, initially, the acquisitions were for occupational reasons, such as Chinese banks that had expanded into the UK buying their own headquarters in the City.
The influx of Chinese capital into London and other major European cities that is expected to follow the stock market crash in China will have a dramatic effect, some analysts said. They believe the investment will potentially attract even more money to the real estate industry and create tens of thousands of jobs.
Daniel Assab and Fu Yi contributed to this story.
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