A new online database mapping Chinese investment in Australia is the latest tactic the federal government is using to fast-track talks on a free trade deal with Beijing.
Trade Minister Andrew Robb on Thursday launched the interactive resource in Shanghai as Prime Minister Tony Abbott schmoozed business leaders at the Boao Forum on the southern island of Hainan.
Mr Abbott has been struggling to convince China that Australia wants its business, with concerns in Beijing about foreign investment rules holding back talks on a free trade agreement.
He wants an FTA with Australia's largest trading partner as soon as possible, and is optimistic he can achieve one by year's end.
The latest initiative to spur talks contains detailed analysis and animated infographics of Chinese investment in Australia by year, industry, geography, dollar value and investor type.
It will serve a dual purpose by also informing Australians about the realities of Chinese investment at a time when concerns around farm buy-outs and housing purchases is rife.
"This online resource increases knowledge about Chinese investment in Australia and will help inform public debate," Mr Robb said.
So far the resource - soon to be in app form - has recorded more than 180 deals worth $60 billion involving Chinese enterprises in Australia between September 2006 and December 2013.
Mr Abbott has used his visit to North Asia to reassure China it can live with the rules governing foreign investment in Australia, saying more proposals have been approved than rejected.
Mr Abbott has brought a massive business and political delegation to China to impress on its leadership how badly he wants to finalise an FTA with China.
Talks have been dragging on for nearly ten years, and the elusive deal with Beijing remains the missing piece in Mr Abbott's "trifecta of trade" - the other two countries being Japan and South Korea.
But the message seems to be getting through, with Premier Li Keqiang personally assuring Mr Abbott that China is also keen to fast-track a deal.
In a speech at the Boao Forum attended by Premier Li and business leaders, Mr Abbott stressed he wasn't just in China to talk business.
"We don't just visit because we need to but because we want to," he said.
In a sign of deepening ties beyond trade, both leaders also agreed to a series of high-level defence exchanges later in the year.