The number of Chinese consumers seeking things such as New Zealand dairy products is likely to keep growing, one expert says.

New Zealand can expect to see the influence of China in its investment markets carry on unabated for the time being, an analyst says.

Concerns have been raised over recent weeks that China might be the next country to fall victim to a banking crisis, because of the rapid increase in its debt levels.

The Bank for International Settlements said that the measure of China's risk can be found in its "credit to GDP gap", which is now sitting at 30 - three times the danger level.

This score is well in excess of any other major country and is above the level in the US leading into the global financial crisis and in Asia at the time of its late 1990s debt bubble.

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China's total debt is the equivalent of 255 per cent of GDP – up from 147 per cent eight years ago. It is a level that is on par with other countries around the world but the rate of growth has led to questions about how well the money has been invested.

It is a worry for New Zealand because China is our biggest export market and if Chinese investors decided to sell their New Zealand investments en masse, it could hit things such as our stock market and real estate prices.

But Robert Mann, senior portfolio manager of Asian Equities at Nikko Asset Management, said there were no signs that China would falter.

He said he expected growth to be stable for the next 15 to 18 months, at least. "It won't be the source of shocks."

China's 12th National People's Congress is in session from 2013 to 2018 and Mann said it would want stable economic growth approaching the end of the term.

The trends of the past few years would continue, he said. "The growth of the middle class will continue strongly, more Chinese tourists, more people drinking milk, all those things are almost certain to continue over the next few years. It's almost impossible to see that slowing down."

But he said debt would continue to increase and the important thing would be how the country handled its investments. Some reform of investment in state-owned enterprises could be needed, he said.

China is on course to open its capital account in about five years' time, although it has pulled back from committing to the previously-stated 2020 deadline.

That move would allow it to fully integrate with global financial markets, which Mann said would lead to a flood of money flowing out of China into international markets.

At the moment there is a legal limit of US$50,000 per adult, per year, of funds that can be taken out of China. It has been suggested by some commentators that the country might take steps to try to stem the flow further, which could have an effect on New Zealand's property market and other investment assets.

But Mann said China had showed this year that it had more control than had previously been thought. He said it was unlikely that it would attempt to clamp down on that any further.

BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander agreed Chinese investors would continue to play a strong part in the New Zealand property market.

"Millions of people in China want to buy offshore assets partly to get their funds off the mainland. In coming years there will continue to be strong demand for New Zealand, predominantly Auckland property, by Chinese buyers."