Australia's agriculture to benefit from China's boom

China's investment in agriculture is small compared to its involvement in the mining sector.

According to study made at the University of Sydney, since 2006 more than 90 percent of Chinese investment in Australia has been in mining and oil and gas sectors. In 2011, the Foreign Investment Review Board approved 4 million Australian dollars ($4.2 million) of Chinese agricultural investment out of a total of 15 billion Australian dollars ($15.75 billion) of total investment.

But when that investment concerns the purchase of agricultural land, Australian public opinion becomes polarized, generating ongoing concern from potential Chinese investors.

A 2012 Lowy Institute poll found that 81 percent of Australians were against the Australian government's allowing foreign companies to buy Australian farmland.

While Chinese investment in Australia's agricultural sector has been thoroughly overshadowed by investment from the US ($38 million), the UK ($189 million), Canada ($104 million) and Switzerland ($150 million) , China has become the "lightening rod" for public anxieties over foreign ownership of Australian land.

Morgan said that "at first blush" opposition to Chinese investment looks like xenophobia."But our research suggests Australians are caught between the fear that China will no longer need us and the fear that we do not have a strategy to meet our long-term interests in the relationship," he said.

According to Morgan, to continue to enjoy the benefits of the relationship, bilateral trade between China and Australia needs to mature.