Chinese-owned firm takes over one of Australia's largest cannabis farms - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Tasmanian Botanics is a cannabis farm and processing facility at Pontville, north of Hobart. (ABC News: Scout Wallen)

A subsidiary of a Chinese company has taken on almost complete control of a Tasmanian medicinal cannabis business.

The chief executive of Tasmanian Botanics says it is "business as usual" for staff and customers.

The Foreign Investment Review Board has been contacted for comment.

One of Australia's largest cannabis cultivators is now almost entirely owned by Chinese-owned firm Yongji Health. 

Company documents show Yongji, a subsidiary of a Guizhou-based company, has taken full control of Pijen, which owns more than 95 per cent of the shares in Tasmanian Botanics.

Yongji was already a part-owner in Pijen but purchased the remaining shares from Australian shareholders in a deal worth about $31 million, according to industry publication Cannabiz.

Tasmanian Botanics cultivates, manufactures and packages medicinal cannabis products from a farm and processing facility at Pontville in southern Tasmania.

Craig Knight says the business operations and staffing will remain the same. (ABC News: Ashleigh Barraclough)

The company's chief executive, Craig Knight, told 936 ABC Hobart that while foreign investment could "sound ominous", there was no indication there would be any significant changes for staff or customers.

"It's been one of the things that has been crystal clear throughout the whole process," Mr Knight said.

The farm is one of Australia's biggest cannabis producers. (ABC News: Scout Wallen)

More than 150 people work at the Tasmanian Botanics site, which includes a greenhouse and an outdoor crop of about 2.5 hectares, as well as packaging and manufacturing facilities.

The takeover comes at a time when the Australian medicinal cannabis industry grapples with increased competition from overseas manufacturers, particularly in Thailand.

Mr Knight said Yongji had made a "significant investment", which showed the firm's confidence in the Australian sector.

"People don't invest this type of money into something they don't have confidence in — that's very much how I viewed it," he said.

"We're now part of a bigger company … which also has other assets in the medicinal cannabis industry in Australia, so it's a pretty good synergy."

There are more than 150 workers at Tasmanian Botanics. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)

The cannabis farm boss said that while some might be concerned about foreign ownership, it was simply one of the realities of the business world.

"But we're part of a bigger landscape, a bigger world, and sometimes people are interested in things here and it happens all over the world."

Australia's cannabis industry is facing increased competition from overseas. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)

Yongji is a subsidiary of Guizhou Yongji Printing, a cigarette packaging company listed on the Shanghai stock exchange.

The ABC has contacted the federal government's Foreign Investment Review Board for comment.