China's state-owned giant CNPC said Thursday its engineering division had agreed to buy nearly 20 percent of Australia's Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. (LNG), the latest purchase there by a Chinese firm.

CNPC said in a statement that the subsidiary -- China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Corp -- would become LNG's largest shareholder after the purchase of the 19.9% stake. It did not give a value for the transaction.

The oil and gas giant said the agreement would give Huanqiu preferential rights to use the Australian firm's liquefied natural gas technology, which would help it become more competitive in the international LNG market.

It would also help CNPC develop in the Australian natural gas market, it added.

Chinese firms have made a series of bids for Australian resources, including Yanzhou Coal's 3.5-billion Australian dollar takeover of miner Felix in 2009, the biggest for an Australian company by a Chinese firm.