Australian online jobs group Seek.com.au will invest US$45 million (AUD$46.9 million) on Chinese recruitment site Zhaopin, increasing its stake to 42.9 percent, The Australian reported Thursday.

Seek first acquired a 25 percent share in the Chinese site in September 2006. According to the company, the increased investment would be earnings per share dilutive in 2009.

However, Seek expects the move to be “strongly earnings per share accretive in the longer term,” as the online recruitment market keeps on increasing in scale in China, The Australian reported.

“Seek will continue to account for its interest in Zhaopin as an associate as it will not be exercising control of the company,” the company said in an official statement.

Meanwhile, Macquarie Capital, a listed private equity group, will become another shareholder in Zhaopin, with a 29.1 percent share, according to The Australian.

This move was Seek's first investment outside Australia and New Zealand, The Australian reported.