A Chinese company and Australian farming giant Ron Greentree have joined forces to build a cotton gin in the far north with the help of $34 million in funding from the federal government.

Shanghai Zhongfu-owned Kimberley Agricultural Investments (KAI), Mr Greentree’s Prime Grain Limited and ASX-listed Namoi Cotton are the biggest backers of the gin, seen as a key to developing a large-scale cotton industry on the Ord irrigation scheme near Kununurra, and a huge boost for the northern cattle industry in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.