Shanghai property developer Jiang Zhaobai is a key member of a consortium which has mounted a successful bid for some Gulf Harbour assets (in receivership).
Other members of the consortium are Hong Kong's listed developer Shanghai Zendai Property Holdings and New Zealand-based Terry Lee who is Jiang's personal friend andbusiness colleague.
Chinese-based sources confirmed details of the bid to in China during the Herald's inquiry into bilateral investment issues.
In January, PR man Cedric Allan revealed the Overseas Investment Office was processing a second bid from Jiang as part of a joint venture trying to buy "development land" in New Zealand. Allan said the investment was "nothing to do with farming" and worth much less than the Crafar dairy farms deal.
But even though Allan spruiked the deal as "non-controversial" it is still stuck in front of the Overseas Investment Commission.
Herald inquiries suggest that ministers are well aware of the deal.
The OIO has not shed any real light on the reasons why it is taking so long for the Chinese investors to gain approval to complete the deal
But OIO general manager Annelies McClure says her office is waiting for information from the applicant in order to complete its recommendation to ministers.
