Zhu Junming likes numbers and Australia.
There are more than 100 million people living in his home province of Guangdong who eat about 12 million tonnes of grains year. But the demand for cereal is far greater - about two times as much as the province feeds livestock and for other industrial uses.
And this is where Australia comes in. The country exports about 26 million tonnes of grain a year, enough to meet the total demand of Guangdong.
"It's a perfect connection," said Mr Zhu, the chairman of China's Shenzhen Cereals Group.
Mr Zhu's comments came a day after the Business Council of Australia urged Australian governments to rethink their role in the economy by promoting industries that have natural advantages such as agriculture.
He said his company alone could "suck up" Australia's total grain exports and believes the land down under has even more to offer.
Mr Zhu is in Melbourne as part of a Chinese delegation attending the Australian Grains Industry Conference. He has learnt just how under-invested Australia's agricultural sector is, with many investors traditionally steering clear of the food because of the risks associated with primary production.
But Mr Zhu reckons his company can help and after the conference will visit farming areas in Victoria and Western Australia to look for investment opportunities.
"There are local investment opportunities in transport and logistics, which China can finance to help your system to improve," he said.
"Because the land size average per person is big, there are a lot of resource opportunities that might help meet Chinese demand."
Mr Zhu imports about 24 million tonnes of grain a year from other countries and other parts of China, particularly the north. But the cost of domestic freight is "about equal" to importing from Australia, which he said produces higher-quality wheat.
It's this efficiency as well as safe and reliable practices across the food chain that has roused the interest of Chinese food companies, which are not only looking for overseas supplies but also ways to develop their own agricultural sector - which has been hit by a series of contamination scandals - to meet meet surging demand from its fast-growing middle class.
Jeff Turner, a commissioner for the federal government's international trade promotion agency Austrade, said the so-called Asian "dining boom" was no longer about buying and selling but investment partnerships.
He said Chinese investors had been talking with the Australian government about a variety of infrastructure projects, particularly in transport, to help grow production.
"We saw a lot of minerals investment and that will continue," said Mr Turner, who is based in Chengdu. "But now the next wave is agribusiness. We have seen COFCO buy Tully Sugar and Ruyi buying Cubbie Station.
"They are discussing it with the government, in terms of building economic infrastructure, whether its ports or rail, and possibly... high-speed rail. As long as there is a business case to it."
And Mr Turner said a small number of Australian companies were starting to return to foreign investment favour, helping develop China's agriculture sector. He singled out Elders' plan to replicate its Indonesian live-cattle business in China. In Indonesia, Elders has its own feedlot, abattoir and sells a branded product.
"For us, Australian producers, it's not just about exporting any more and it hasn't been for a long time. Those who are succeeding get that. They are moving up the supply chain.
"It's not just putting your grain or your meat or your wine on the ship and that's it. It's understanding the consumer and the trends that are going on."
