PengXin Group

Foreign ownership of farm land is a sensitive issue in Australia and "across the ditch" in New Zealand.

The decision to approve the sale of NZ dairy farms to a Chinese company has prompted an "Aotearoa is Not for Sale" hikoi, which starts at dawn tomorrow with prayers at Cape Reinga.

After a year-long legal battle, China will be allowed to buy farmland in new Zealand. Some experts say these purchases are less about business and more about rich countries securing their own food supply at the expense of less well off nations.

New Zealand's reputation will be damaged in Asia if the sale of the Crafar dairy farms to Chinese interests does not go through, says a Kiwi managing investments in China.

The Government clearly hopes the Crafar Farms' controversy will be put to bed before China's fourth-ranked leader Jia Qinglin visits Christchurch and Wellington in mid-April.

Central North Island Maori are seeking to challenge Shanghai Pengxin's purchase of the Crafar farms using the same Treaty of Waitangi clause in legislation the Maori Party has fought to retain for partially privatised state-owned assets.

La haute cour de Nouvelle-Zélande annule l’autorisation accordée fin janvier par le gouvernement de la vente de 16 fermes laitières à un investisseur chinois. Selon le juge, le gouvernement a surestimé les bénéfices économiques de la transaction.

Shanghai Pengxin will persevere with its $210 million bid to buy the Crafar dairy farms in spite of the High Court today overuling the Government's decision to allow the deal to go ahead.

L’acquisition de 16 fermes laitières (Crafar Farms) par un groupe chinois crée des remous en Nouvelle-Zélande.

Le gouvernement a donné son feu vert à la décision du Bureau de l’investissement à l’étranger qui recommande la vente des 16 fermes laitières Crafar à la société Shanghai Pengxin pour 150 millions de dollars.

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.