Despite the existence of unprecedented opportunities abroad, China's outbound direct investment is still in a fledgling state, according to a poll undertaken by China's trade promotion agency.

A majority of the companies that responded to the survey, entitled Chinese Companies' Outbound Investment and Operation, said they were dissatisfied with the way business is conducted overseas, where economic, cultural and political difficulties abound.

Responding to opportunities abroad, Chinese companies have been extending their reach to more countries in Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America, as well as in Asia. More than half of the respondents to the survey, though, said they were not satisfied with the profits their overseas branches and operations make or the market shares that they hold.

A majority also said their businesses were doing better in Africa than in the United States and the European Union. They attributed their good African fortunes to the improved infrastructure, tamer competition and abundant opportunities found on that continent, the survey said.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade published the results of the poll, which drew on interviews held with more than 1,000 outward-oriented Chinese companies hailing from 16 cities across the country.

"China's outbound direct investment is still at an early stage, and Chinese companies aspiring to invest abroad will have to face and deal with all sorts of difficulties in the future," said Dong Jiayang, director general of the economic information department of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.