New Zealand to reconsider Chinese farm purchases

New Zealand’s High Court ordered the government to reconsider a Chinese company’s purchase of 16 farms, highlighting growing concerns over Chinese ownership of land in the agriculturally dependent nation, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Crafar Farmers Independent Purchase Group, a group of farmers and Maori trusts that had offered $171.5 million New Zealand dollars (US$143.5 million) for the farms, sought to block the sale of the dairy and drystock farms to Shanghai Pengxin Group’s Milk New Zealand Holdings unit. Pengxin won the bid after offering to invest more than NZ$200 to buy the properties and upgrade the farms. Under New Zealand law, overseas investments in farm land are contingent on government approval and permitted only if the acquisition benefits the country. New Zealanders have become increasingly worried about land sales to foreign parties as higher agricultural prices and tightening credit make it difficult for local farmers to buy land.