Further purchases of Australian cattle stations are expected as China’s demand for beef continues to grow unabated. Snow Dragon, a subsidiary of Xuelong Industrial Group of Dalian, China has been importing $7 million worth of Angus beef from Australia for the past three consecutive years and has announced it is planning a fast-track expansion in closer co-operation with Australia though the purchase of farmland in that county in the near future. Snow Dragon which controls a 10,000 head feedlot in Dalian is one of the companies that has seen the value of Australian beef and veal exports to China increase by 3,273% over the past five years as supply is still lower than demand. This has pushed companies such as Snow Dragon to step up their interest in investing in farms, livestock, and animal husbandry in other countries. Australian agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce visited China in September in advance of free trade negotiations between the two countries that include discussing Australian beef and veal exports to China and China’s trade restrictions upon those exports. So far in 2014 China’s Yiang Xiang Assets bought the Elizabeth Down station in the Northern Territory and Shanghai-based Orient Agriculture bought the Undabri cotton farm in South Queensland.
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