New Zealand

Chinese investors are buying New Zealand farmland for the first time as economic ties with the Asian powerhouse grow ever deeper, sparking considerable anxiety in a country where livelihoods are heavily reliant on agriculture.

Shanghai Pengxin Group Co., a Chinese property developer seeking to export dairy products to Asia, won approval to buy 16 New Zealand dairy farms amid local objections to rising foreign ownership of assets.

The inner workings of one of the NZ Government's most secret agencies, the Overseas Investment Office, could be blown open if it consents to a Chinese company buying the big Crafar dairy farming estate.

Stephen Diggle plans to open his personal portfolio of farmlands in the US, Uruguay and New Zealand to investors and to pour money into Africa and eastern Europe as global food prices soar.

"The whole mess in Europe at the moment has increased demand for diversification products for the Asian markets," says Aquila CEO Roman Rosslenbroich, including farmland.

Polling for the Michael Fay-led consortium trying to buy the Crafar dairy farms shows an “overwhelming desire for the government to stop in and stop the sale” to the would-be Chinese buyer, Pengxin International.

A survey shows New Zealanders are overwhelmingly opposed to foreign ownership of New Zealand farmland – but three weeks out from the election there is no sign the main political parties will make a fight of defending our turf.

Aquila Capital Green Assets, part of the Aquila Group, is pleased to announce today that it has become an official signatory to the recently launched Principles for Responsible Investment in Farmland.

Labour leader Phil Goff says, if elected as government on 26 November, his party would reverse the current approach so overseas buyers of farms would have to prove they offer additional value to the country.

Sir Michael Fay, his mainly Maori colleagues, and the rival Chinese bidders for the Crafar dairy farms, have one thing in common. In a world where global investors are all looking for safe havens for their money, they see New Zealand farmland as good buying.

Hardie Peni says joining the consortium with other iwi and agribusiness investors was the only way to get a chance to buy the land.

The receivers of the Crafar farms say a bid from a New Zealand-based group is not as generous as the one from a Chinese group.