Chinese-owned Hailing Group has emerged as the new owner of the showcase Hollymount/Mt Driven grazing aggregation near St George.

Chaired by billionaire Feng Hailiang, Hailiang Group purchased the adjoining four-property aggregation totalling 50,000ha for a combined figure understood to be above $41 million.

Mr Hailiang has interests across mining, real estate, agriculture and education.

Earlier this year he outlaid $34 million for a residential development site at Campsie in south-west Sydney.

The 34,000ha Hollymount Station aggregation was sold by the Duddy family for a figure around $31 million, while the neighbouring 16,000ha Mount Driven station was owned by Michael Gibbs, for more than $10 million.

The Hailiang Organic Farming Co is Hailing group’s agricultural arm. Established in 2011 it provides “a comprehensive whole-industry chain of organic agriculture”.

Hailiang Organic has set up plants and breeding facilities in 16 provinces including inner Mongolia and Guangdong and has distribution centres in Beijing and Shanghai. “By the end of 2020, Hailiang is supposed to be a world-leading brand,” Hailiang’s website said.

The transactions clearly reflect China’s growing appetite for overseas farmland and its ability to feed its massive population.