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BEIJING-based Sunshine Insurance Group has paid more than $40million for Chateau Elan at The Vintage golf resort at Cessnock.
The Chinese investors have earmarked the site for a $100million upgrade of the golf course and a new 300-room five-star resort.
There are also plans to build a second championship golf course on a section of undeveloped land at the Rothbury resort.
Sunshine, China’s seventh-biggest insurer with 20million mainland customers, has been on an international spending spree and paid $463million for Sydney’s Sheraton on the Park hotel in November.
Chateau Elan was developed by billionaire Don Panoz, the former Ohio pharmacist who invented the nicotine patch.
It is understood hotel co-owner John Stevens will keep some of the resort’s land holdings.
Resort general manager Joseph Spagnolo said Sunshine believed Australia was a ‘‘very secure’’ investment.
‘‘We recognise that with this type of serious Chinese corporation investing in our property, it will bring opportunities for significant enhancement to the existing facilities, and this will attract more tourists to the Hunter Valley,’’ Mr Spagnolo said.
‘‘In turn, this will have a flow-on effect bringing job opportunities to the region.’’
