China is now officially Australia's third largest beef export destination.
Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) chief operating officer Troy Setter says the abattoir's close proximity to Asia was important.
"It is giving us new, growing markets outside the traditional markets of Japan, Korea and the US," he said.
"It's great news to see growth in markets that Australia has invested a lot of time in developing."
The $85 million abattoir and meat packing facility at Livingstone is expected to process about 200,000 head of cattle a year.
AACo has already expressed interest in seeking a joint venture investor in the project, preferably from Asia.
Mr Setter said China had recently cracked down on illegal meat imports, which would also help the new abattoir.
"It will be targeting the grinding meat trade, the lean beef trade," he said.
"The competitive advantage of happening an abattoir in Darwin is its close proximity to Asia, and China is certainly one of the markets we will be targeting."
AACo operates 19 cattle stations, two feedlots and three farms in the Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.
Its operations cover 7.2 million hectares, or about 1 per cent of Australia's land mass.
