Australia, the developed world’s most China-reliant economy, offers a natural destination for billions of dollars of investment from its largest trading partner. There’s just one hurdle -- the Australians themselves.
When Australia’s largest dairy farm was sold to Chinese buyers last month, its biggest tabloid paper howled that the government was ‘Milking Us Dry!’ by approving the deal. That chimes with a survey showing most Australians think too much Chinese property buying is allowed Down Under. The reality is China accounted for just over 4 percent of foreign investment at the end of 2014 -- slightly less than the Netherlands.
