Labor senator and power broker Sam Dastyari has admitted he was wrong to let a company with links to the Chinese Government pay a $1,670.82 bill incurred by his office.

Key points: Sam Dastyari says "on reflection" he would not have taken Chinese-linked money

Sam Dastyari says "on reflection" he would not have taken Chinese-linked money Dastyari donates the $1,670.82 to charity

Dastyari donates the $1,670.82 to charity Cory Bernardi says Dastyari's statement is "wholly inadequate"

Senator Dastyari made the statement after Liberal senator Cory Bernardi challenged him to explain the payment on the ABC's 7.30 program last night.

The New South Wales Labor senator told the Senate this morning "on reflection" he should have paid the bill himself.

"I take full responsibility and have donated that amount to charity," Senator Dastyari said.

The payment was made by the Sydney-based Top Education Institute to cover a blow out in Senator Dastyari's office's travel budget.

Top Education Institute's principal is Minshen Zhu.

Dr Zhu has reportedly been photographed with senior Chinese officials, including Premier Li Keqiang, and the Chinese Government is said to have recommend the training provider.

An examination of Senator Dastyari's disclosures shows other Chinese-linked companies and entities have picked up the senator's costs for legal bills, entertainment and travel.

Senator Bernardi said Senator Dastyari's statement was "wholly inadequate".

"He hasn't detailed how it came to pass that a company with strong links to a foreign country has paid his personal obligations to the Commonwealth," he told the Senate this morning.

'Dastyari a vocal critic of corporate corruption'

Senator Bernardi last night noted Senator Dastyari was a vocal critic of corporate corruption.

"We have Sam Dastyari, who is now the manager of opposition business in the Senate, railing about corporate corruption and yet we have a circumstance where on the 12th October, 2015, he declared that his debt for his mismanagement of his office budget, his debt to the Commonwealth, who is paid by the top education institute."

Federal Senator Sam Dastyari (fourth from left) pictured with Yuhu Group chairman Huang Xiangmo (fourth from right). ( Supplied: ACETCA )

Last year, Senator Dastyari used parliamentary privilege to question why Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had invested in companies that have offices in the Cayman Islands — a well-known Caribbean tax haven where the corporate tax rate is zero.

"There is one reason people invest in the Cayman Islands — so they don't have to play by the same rules as the rest of us," Senator Dastyari said in a short speech to the Senate.

"This isn't fair and it's not right."

Senator Dastyari said the investments were "all legal and disclosed", but asked "is any of it appropriate?".

He also claimed Mr Turnbull's personal wealth could make it harder to crack down on big companies evading tax.

"Every time the Liberal Party votes against tax transparency, remember there is a house in the Cayman Islands — a house where Malcolm's money resides," he said.