China Investment, a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Chinese government, is planning to acquire a stake in Van Diemen's Land (VDL), a leading dairy farming company in Australia.
Van Diemen's Land (VDL), based in Tasmania, has 25,000 dairy cows and 6,500 beef cattle, and operates 27 dairy farms spanning an area of 19,000 hectares.
Currently, the company is in talks with several parties to raise A$180m ($187.51m) to double its milk production and workforce, reported Reuters.
China Investment, which holds about $410bn in assets, has already approached Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) for preliminary consultations over the VDL deal before submitting a formal application. FIRB is responsible for examining proposals by foreign interests to undertake direct investment in Australia.
This move by China Investment comes after Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings visited Beijing, China, as part of a trade mission to promote trade and investment opportunities in the state.
China Investment, based in Beijing, seeks to make long-term investments and usually does not hold a controlling stake in its investments, according to the fund's website.
China is encouraging its companies to invest globally, to boost food security in order to feed its population of 1.3 billion.
