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Australia approves $24 billion in Chinese property investments

Approvals for Chinese investment into Australian property have doubled from the 2014-2015 financial years.

In terms of figures, approvals of Chinese property investments have hit $24 billion (£12.8 billion), which is showing a high demand for overseas real estate, reports the Financial Times.

Australia's latest foreign investment review board (Firb) shows that there are also increases in the value of approvals for Chinese investments in agriculture, finance and manufacturing. This is all despite contrary evidence, showing that Beijing's economy is cooling.

China has also showed record highs of investment into the Americas and in Europe, which highlights its position of importance as a supporter of global growth.

Data from the Firb could suggest that as Chinese economic growth is slowing, Australia could become more scrupulous about its property regulations.

Malcolm Turnbull, Australia's prime minister, is set to lead the country's largest trade mission to China, by focusing on increasing trade between the two countries. This was worth $150 billion last year alone to both sides and is supported by over 1,000 business executives, who are in line with Mr Turnbull.

Despite the positive links with China regarding trade and property, there are still areas of Australia that are blocking real estate purchases from Chinese companies.

Last year, Canberra blocked a $350 million proposal from Shanghai Pengxin for S Kidman & Co, which controls a vast amount of Australian farmland. The reason for this was that there were concerns over the size of the land deal.

There were also security concerns voiced over the sale of this land and the sale of Darwin port to the Chinese company Landbridge,

On the positive side of the fence, however, many are saying that the influx of Chinese money into the Sydney and Melbourne property markets is driving a building boom.

Similarly, there are those who are seeing this investment in property as a way for Australia to recover from the commodities bust of previous years.

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