He's risen to national attention as the Chinese businessman who forked out for Senator Sam Dastyari's travel bill.

But the story of Minshen Zhu is far bigger than just the NSW Labor powerbroker.

Dr Zhu is a man with links to the communist government in China, helping trigger renewed debate about political donations and the rising importance of Chinese money in Australia.

He has emerged as a prolific and well-connected donor to the major parties, with his company contributing more than $230,000 to Labor and the Liberals since 2010, according to Australian Electoral Commission records.