Its reincarnation is in the form of a joint venture with Chinese corporate giant Nanshan on the Shandong Peninsula in the north east of China.

Elders BWK relocated its top-making plant to Nanshan’s model city of the same name two years ago and wool processing began in March last year.

By July the Nanshan plant will be at full capacity, churning through 10 million kilograms of Australian greasy wool every year – about 2.5 per cent of the nation’s annual wool clip.

The wool top generated by the combing plant feeds Nanshan’s textile arm, producing 3.6 million suits every year for the European, Korean and Chinese markets with about a kilogram of wool in each.

Its polished showroom presents Natsun business suits for about $600 and sports jackets from $300.

It would take one of their own workers two to three months to earn enough to purchase one of the suits they manufacture and a morning’s work to buy a Big Mac in Beijing.

It’s not hard to see why the 15-year-old BWK-Elders top-making plant is now part of the industrial scenery in this rapidly growing corporate city.

Elders Wool general manager Mark Rodda said the cost of producing a kilogram of tops was about $1.50 in Australia.

In China that figure was closer to 50 cents.

Yantai BWK Elders joint venture general manger Wang Sheng said the plant was working at 70 to 80 per cent of capacity and would continue to concentrate on using Australian wool of an average fibre diameter of 19.5 microns.

The Nanshan Group clearly sees textiles, and notably wool, as part of its grand plan for some time to come.

Its glossy brochure boasts it has been awarded the title of “famous brand of China” and an “exemption from quality inspection.”

Notably woollen garments are just a drop in the bucket for this modern day corporate giant that has 11 major ventures in all, including aluminum, real estate, education and tourism and is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

It employs more than 70,000 people.

It’s a fascinating example of a modern Chinese economic heavyweight that has been developed with significant backing from the central government.

It is not clear who is behind the company although according to folklore it was founded by a group of 20 farmers.

The crowning glory of the tourism arm of the Nanshan Group is a 380-tonne Buddha, perched on a mountainside overlooking the city’s 225-hole golf course, two international hotels and the real estate development on the coast, where more than 200 cranes and countless workers are busy building a Surfers Paradise-like skyline.

* Marius Cuming travelled to China courtesy of Elders.