Half of the community also believes Australia's media reporting about China is too harsh, with most utilising social media platform WeChat and Beijing-controlled outlets Xinhua and People's Daily for their news.

The Lowy Institute polled more than 1000 Chinese-Australians for the survey, three quarters of whom were Australian citizens or permanent residents. There are more than 1.2 million people of Chinese heritage living in Australia.

Of the 1004 respondents, about 10 per cent were born in Australia.

The survey found about half of Chinese-Australians thought foreign interference was given "too much attention" by Australian politicians and journalists, while almost 40 per cent said it was given "too little attention".

China has previously expressed its dissatisfaction with Australia's foreign interference and investment laws, the exclusion of Huawei from the 5G network and public criticism of Chinese human rights abuses.

It has also denied seeking to interfere in Australian state or federal politics amid warnings from domestic spy agency ASIO that foreign intelligence agencies are trying to cultivate Australian politicians.

The relationship between Beijing and Canberra deteriorated in 2020 after Australia called for an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China subsequently launched a series of trade strikes against Australian exports including bans and tariffs on coal, timber, grain and seafood.

The report also found some Chinese-Australians were concerned about being baselessly portrayed in the media as Chinese Communist Party agents.

While more than 70 per cent of those surveyed felt a sense of belonging with Australia, more than a third felt they had been treated poorly in the past 12 months and almost a fifth were physically threatened or attacked.

The respondents pointed to broader Australia-China relations and the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons for this negative treatment.

"The survey reaffirms that the debates on foreign interference and trade tensions are just a part of the political events and narratives shaping the lives of the Chinese-Australians," report co-author Jennifer Hsu said.

Elsewhere, the report found only a third of Chinese-Australians consider democracy the highest form of governance, while Beijing's successful COVID-19 pandemic response prompted more than 40 per cent of respondents to perceive the Chinese governance model more favourably.

And while almost all Chinese-Australians were plugged in to both Australian and Chinese news, almost 85 per cent used WeChat for Chinese-language news and 74 per cent used Xinhua or People's Daily.

Half of the respondents thought Australian media was too harsh on Beijing.

ANU data released on Sunday indicated Chinese investment in Australia had plunged by more than 60 per cent in 2020.

The university's database recorded just over $1 billion in Chinese investment in Australia in 2020, down from $2.6 billion the previous year.

More than 85 per cent of that investment came from Chinese firms established within Australia, and did not come directly from foreign firms.

Australian Associated Press