In a glitzy private dining room in central Shanghai, Lulu Pallier is meeting a group of investors for lunch.

Her guests are members of the rising Chinese middle class and on the menu is Australian property.

"I hope everyone enjoys the dinner today. To our old friends and our new friends, welcome. Feel free to ask me any questions about purchasing property in Australia," she says to the group.

China has come a long way from the egalitarian ideals which founded the modern nation.

Among the small group, women sip champagne wearing cocktail dresses while the men peruse their laptops dressed in sharp designer suits.

Ms Pallier herself arrives in a polished black Bentley, all part of a slick sales pitch to sell the dream of owning an Australian house or apartment.

"The winter in Shanghai is very cold and summer is too hot. The seasons in Australia are just opposite to China so it would be nice if they live in Australia during those seasons," she says.

Sitting amongst the group is finance worker Iris Huang, who is signing a contract for a property she has only ever seen online.

"I haven't seen it, but I've been living Australia, I am familiar with that area so I don't need to see," Ms Huang says.

"Most of the investment, if they trust somebody like Lulu the real estate agent, I don't think they need to see, just sign and email — it's very convenient."

Government-backed corporations also buying up

Australian property is big business in China. With a stable economy, clean air and good schools, Australia can be an easy sell for specialist real estate agents like Ms Pallier.

There are some concerns apartments being built in Sydney and Melbourne are priced exclusively for cashed-up Chinese buyers. ( 774 ABC Melbourne: Simon Leo Brown )

And more recently some of China's richest government-backed corporations are also cashing in investing unprecedented amounts in Australian real estate.

Nerida Conisbee leads the research team at international realtors Colliers. She has watched as a flood of Chinese money has entered the real estate market over the past five years.

"China now dominates in terms of investment into real estate," she said.

"They're paying more than what will stack up for local developers is our understanding, I think it just comes down to their investment metrics and perhaps the comparison of returns elsewhere."

Official figures also tell the same story. In 2010 China was Australia's second biggest investor in real estate after the US, committing $2.3 billion to domestic projects.

Five years on and today China dominates. As much as $12.4 billion was poured into the property sector, more than double the amount it invested in mining.

Fears for Australian buyers could be unfounded

The tsunami of Chinese money stoked fears that Australian buyers were being priced out of the market.

There were ugly scenes at least one property auction in August as protesters clutched placards claiming "Foreign Ownership is Economic Genocide".

But Chinese investment could be having the opposite effect.

Australian law forces foreign nationals into buy new-builds. The vast majority of money is creating new housing stock, which could dampen rising property prices.

"Melbourne has added around a thousand apartments per annum since 1990 ... we're seeing 20,000 apartments expected to be delivered over a five-year time period, so I guess the question is who will occupy them?" Ms Conisbee says.

"Historically we've never seen this happen before, we haven't seen it happen in any other capital city in Australia.

"I do think it will be good for affordability in that city and we are seeing a stabilisation of rental rates in many cities as a result of development and in terms of affordability for occupiers — it would be a positive."

But views differ on how Chinese investment will affect the market.

Michael Bentley, the managing director of Hong Kong realty Citylife International, believes apartments being built in Sydney and Melbourne are designed and priced exclusively for cashed-up Chinese buyers willing to pay over the odds.

"My fear is that the apartments may be overpriced for the local market and will be sold overseas," he said.

"Mainland developers are pretty cash rich and they can outbid most Australians on real estate development sites and my fear is that they could design apartments that will appeal to mainland buyers and may not be particularly liveable for Australian buyers."

Ms Pallier's clients are not only prepared to pay Sydney prices, they think they are cheap.

"Compared to Shanghai property, Sydney property is not that expensive," Ms Huang says.

For Ms Pallier, the appetite for Chinese investment is not about to dry up anytime soon.

"They come to this country, they want to buy something special, the priority is view so waterfront, a nice house and preferably a boat marina. It's something money cannot buy in China," she says.