LONDON, May 15 -- The Chinese enterprises' investment and merger in Britain has reached 4 billion U.S. dollars in the first four months of this year, which exceeded the total amount of last year, a Chinese diplomat said on Thursday.

The trade and economic relationship between China and Britain kept growing this year, Zhou Xiaoming, minister counsellor of the Chinese embassy in Britain, told the China Britain Investment and Partnership Forum.

The trade amount between the two countries rose 20.6 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year, he added.

Chinese enterprises' investment and merger amount in Britain surpassed 10 billion U.S. dollars in 2012 and 2013.

According to the diplomat, over 500 Chinese enterprises have been operating in Britain. The investment fields have been expanded from trade, finance and telecommunications, to high-value manufacturing, infrastructure and research markets.

The political and economic relationship between China and Britain were very strong now, said former mayor of London, David William Brewer.

China emphasized the importance of service sectors, which would bring British companies large opportunities, he added.

The forum, which was attended by 200 people from the two countries, is aimed at building a communication and cooperation bridge between Chinese and British enterprises.