Lovelace said that buyer interest was evenly split between domestic and foreign investors but he saw a changing trend in Asian buyers.

The new wave of buyers are getting more sophisticated, and they are looking at investing outside of places like Richmond and West Vancouver. Now they are looking at properties all over BC like farms, ranches, and businesses, and in this case an entire town.

The realty agency, as its website shows, is going to hold a China and BC Investment Expo on Feb 21, and has now opened registration to Chinese investors.

The upcoming expo which advertised itself as "get out of town for highest and best returns" will have a number of investment project for the investors from China, for instance a cereal crop farmland, blueberry farms, industrial parks and more ghost towns.

Lovelace said it was exciting to see fresh money come into the rural areas of BC because he thinks that initiatives such as the Bradian purchase might kick-start northern economies.

Chinese investors in recent years have become the major force of foreign investment in the real-estate market in BC province.

Vancouver has been seeing heavy investment in recent years from tens of thousands of investor-class immigrants from the Chinese mainland, who have viewed the city as an ideal place to park their capital in luxury property.

According to Macdonald Realty Ltd., one of the largest real-estate companies in BC which has more than 1,000 agents and staff, 33.5 per cent of the 531 single family homes sold by its Vancouver offices in 2013 went to people with ties to China.

wangru@chinadaily.com.cn