Mr Banks will attend a property conference in Beijing and said he would use the opportunity to network with Chinese buyers interested in the residential zones on the Fortuna Villa site. 

"The thing is, a lot of those (Chinese buyers) would probably want the villa," Mr Banks said. 

The nine-acre block on which Fortuna Villa stands is not for sale because Mr Banks is developing it for tourism.   

He is looking for buyers for the two-and-a-half and seven acre blocks of land surrounding the mansion. 

The sites were approved for residential development by state planning minister Matthew Guy last week. 

Mr Banks said he was in talks with potential buyers and real estate agents from Bendigo, Castlemaine and Melbourne.

Bendigo real estate agent Doug Lougoon said the area was "fantastic" for residential development. 

"I gather they’re (developers) going to take advantage of the view over the lake and the villa and I think people would be very interested in looking at what the possibilities are," Mr Lougoon said. 

He said, instead of maximum density housing, the area could be "a very exclusive sort of place".  

"It’d be a shame just to jam things in there," he said.