The slowdown in China's economy isn't going to stop its state-owned and private companies investing in Australian assets, says Westpac's head of greater China Andrew Whitford, who is tipping a boom in foreign investment in agriculture and healthcare. 
As investors fret over banks' exposure to emerging markets, Mr Whitford also signalled Westpac had not experienced any major deterioration in credit quality among its Chinese institutional clients.
China has risen to be one of Australia's biggest sources of overseas capital in recent years, with the federal government approving $27.7 billion in Chinese investments in 2013-14.
However as its economy slows, some fear this trend could go into reverse, affecting industries such as commercial property in particular. Last week, ANZ reported that its bad debts in Asia were increasing.
But in an interview during a visit to Australia, Mr Whitford said Chinese outbound investment was accelerating, as companies looked for overseas revenue growth, and Chinese appetite for assets here was still strong.
Official outbound investment from China jumped 15 per cent last year as its government encouraged big firms to look abroad, he said.
Mr Whitford argued the fall in China's currency, the renminbi (RMB), made overseas investment more attractive because it meant offshore earnings were more valuable in RMB.
"With the onshore slowdown in China, some of these large Chinese corporates are cashed up, they're looking at growth opportunities, they're looking at how they can diversify their revenue streams," Mr Whitford said.
"With the devaluation of the renminbi, getting offshore earnings is another attractive objective for them."
Agricultural and health services assets were likely to be especially attractive to Chinese buyers, he said, and interest in Australian commercial property assets also remained strong.
"As the Chinese economy is transitioning to a consumption-based services-based economy, China needs more and more high-quality food, it needs more services, and it needs more health and healthcare products.
"And they are all things that Australia is good at," he said.
The free trade agreement with China, which came into force in   December, also raised the threshold at which private investment from China must be scrutinised by the Foreign Investment Review Board.
His view contrasts with that of Citi's chief economist, Willem Buiter, who last week said a financial crisis in China may prompt Chinese firms to sell their assets overseas.