NASHUA, N.H. —

A state employee directly reached out to China's wealthiest man to gauge his interest in bringing his massive water bottling company to New Hampshire, new documents obtained by WMUR reveal.

In August, a News 9 investigation revealed that the property, an empty warehouse at 80 Northwest Boulevard in Nashua, was purchased earlier this year for $67 million, more than four times its assessed value of $15 million last year, by Nongfu Spring, China's biggest packaged water supplier.

The sale made local and national headlines in the months that followed after national security concerns were raised over the quiet sale and whether it had been scrutinized by federal investigators, given its proximity to important military bases.

WMUR reviewed 160 documents, including hundreds

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