China'second-largest citrus grower has bought a majority stake in an Australian health supplement company, local media Weekly Times Now reported.

Dongfang Modern Agriculture Holding Group reportedly paid AUD$18 million (US$14 million) for a 70 percent stake in Sydney-based Bio Health Pharmaceuticals in late April to broaden its revenue base outside China and to capitalize on the 2015 free trade agreement.

Dongfang, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, grows oranges, tangerines, pomelos and camellia across 10,700 hectares in a tax-exempt Special Citrus Zone in the southeastern Jiangxi province.

The purchase comes after the citrus company secured an AUD$50 million loan “to provide the opportunity to acquire businesses in Australia with significant growth potential,” chief executive Charles So said in the company's annual report.

At the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Monday, chairman Hongwei Cai said that since listing on the ASX three years ago, yield and productivity at Dongfang’s Chinese plantations have increased by up to 40 percent.

Dongfang’s purchase of a majority stake in Bio Health marks the company’s first foray into assets outside of China.

Chairman Hongwei Cai said Dongfang would invest AUD$5 million in Bio Health’s Sydney manufacturing plant to allow it to process camellia seeds grown in China into “healthy products”.

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