The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet of Australia declared that it had decided that was "not necessary to vary or cancel" the Landbridge Group's 99-year lease of the port in the capital of the Northern Territory.

Landbridge Industry Australia, a subsidiary of China’s Landbridge Group based in Shandong province, signed the lease with the debt-laden Northern Territory government in 2015 to lease the Port of Darwin, which is Australia's nearest major port to Asia and is one of the country's busiest seaports. 

Landbridge Group is the largest integrated private port operator in China, which is mainly engaged in port, logistics and petrochemical industries.