* Chairman says Dongfang could distribute Australia fruit in China
* Australia has been pushing to become 'Asia's fruit bowl'
* Dongfang has listed on Australia bourse
* Shares up after first day of trade
By James Regan
SYDNEY, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Dongfang Modern Agriculture Holding Group, China's No.2 producer of citrus fruit, said it was considering distributing fruit grown by Australian farmers in its home market.
That could be good news for Australia's faltering push to brand itself as 'Asia's fruit bowl', with exports of fruit from the country to China still only standing at around $30 million a year.
"We hope to become a beachhead for Australian primary industries to export to China through our distribution network," Dongfang Chairman Hongwei Cai told Reuters on Monday through an interpreter.
The comment came after Dongfang raised A$39.2 million ($28.5 million) through the largest-ever listing on the Australia Securities Exchange of a company operating solely in China. Shares closed their first day of trading on Monday up A$0.25 at A$1.25.
"The first point is to give Australian investors exposure to China's primary industries and the second is to allow Australian primary industries to use Dongfang's distribution network into China," Cai said.
Operating in the world's largest agricultural market, Dongfang's business is primarily growing fruit, particularly oranges, tangerines and pomelos. It had a 1.2-percent market share in 2014 and competes with companies including the largest producer in the country, Asian Citrus 0073.HK .
Under former prime ministers Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott, efforts were made to transform Australia's remote Northern Territory district, its closest point to Asia, into a major source of fruit and other foods for the region.
But a government task force found that only 60,000 hectares of land were suitable for irrigated agriculture - tiny in comparison to the size even of many individual farms in Asia.
Cai also said that a pending free trade agreement between China and Australia, due to be signed this year, would see all tariffs on Australian citrus exported to China eliminated over eight years. Orange tariffs are currently 11 percent, while tax on mandarins stands at 12 percent.
Asian markets for fruit have been hit as Indonesia wants to limit import quotas as part of a policy to encourage local food production. ($1 = 1.3753 Australian dollars)