WITH Labor warning they could lose the election on votes from western Sydney's Kevin Rudd-supporting Chinese community alone, Prime Minister Julia Gillard spent yesterday wooing Asian voters.

Labor suffered a uniform 8 per cent swing across key western Sydney seats at the 2010 election, with one MP blaming the collapse of the vote of Chinese families - with almost 200,000 people across 12 Labor seats being of Chinese ancestry.

The Prime Minister was the star attraction at an "Asian friends of Labor" $68-a-head fundraiser in Hay St last night - but her own MPs doubt the rock star love the Chinese community holds for Mr Rudd will rub off.

"I've got no doubt part of that (swing) was Chinese voters leaving us," a Sydney Labor MP said.

"There's been a lot of feedback from the local Chinese community and the Chinese newspapers - they still speak highly of Kevin."

Banks MP Daryl Melham said he had invited Mr Rudd, who was mobbed at Hurstville on a visit there with him last year, and former prime minister Bob Hawke to campaign with him as he battles to save his southwestern Sydney seat.

"They're an essential part of Banks and a community where we have a strong story to tell. A lot gained their visas because of Tiananmen Square, they owe their visas to Bob Hawke," he said.

Ms Gillard had two jobs yesterday - spruiking the carbon tax as well as mingling with Chinese Ambassador Yuming Chen at the opening of the $20 million University of Sydney Centre for Carbon, Water and Food at Camden.

A memorandum of understanding was signed by the centre with a Beijing agricultural research institute.

The carbon tax has been poison in western Sydney, ranking in internal polling as one of the main reasons Labor voters have turned their backs on the Labor Party.

"What we are bringing together today are the great themes of Australia's future ... all contained in the work of the centre. Asian partnerships, Asian growth, food security, clean energy, carbon, water and soil. These are the issues at the centre of our vision for Australia," Ms Gillard said.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott attended the opening of the centre, where his sister works. A spokeswoman said he was interested in food security and wanted to see if he could replicate the work in his mid-north coast electorate.

media_camera Julia Gillard meets with former NRL player Corey Payne and students Elaine Yeo, 18 and Paulo Greaves, 17 from Fairfield High School. Picture: Craig Greenhill.

Originally published as The great wall of Chinese Rudd fans