15Feb/120
New Zealand halts China farm sale
New Zealand's High Court on Wednesday overturned a decision to allow a Chinese company to buy a bankrupt dairy farm group, in a case which has sparked heated debate about foreign land ownership. The court ordered the government to reconsider its approval for China's Shanghai Pengxin Group to purchase the 16-property Crafar Farms group, saying it had overstated the deal's economic benefits to New Zealand. The proposal has met with fierce opposition in the farm-reliant country, with critics fearing an influx of foreign investors will snap up New Zealand's prime agricultural land.