SMITHTON, Australia — Not long after China’s leader, Xi Jinping, visited the remote island state of Tasmania, a little-known Chinese entrepreneur with big ambitions followed in his footsteps, buying Australia’s largest dairy, with 20,000 cows and rolling green pastures, for more than $200 million.

It looked like a good match. Australia was hungry for Chinese money. And the businessman, Lu Xianfeng, presented himself as a well-heeled investor, promising to protect existing jobs and add even more.

Like much of the splashier overseas spending by Chinese conglomerates, the acquisition of the dairy was financed by layers upon layers of debt, the type of financial complexity and opaque deal making that worry regulators in China and around the world.

Mr. Lu paid for the purchase with three loans, one from a lender in Australia and two from Chinese lenders, including the biggest state-run bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, according to the filings of his publicly traded company. He then pledged shares in the public company, Ningbo Xianfeng New Materials, to raise even more money. Lately, his businesses have been on shaky financial footing, with Ningbo Xianfeng halting trading in its shares in China, citing a restructuring.