Australian schools students to visit China to strengthen ties

A file photo of an Australian high school.

Several Australian Tasmanian high schools representatives have joined state government delegates on a trip to China to further strengthen ties between the two regions.

Tasmania's Growth Minister Matthew Groom invited the students to join him on the eight-day trip, which is aiming to further promote the state's food, education and tourism.

The 50 delegates flew out of Australia early on Thursday morning, according to the Australian Broadcasting corporation (ABC) .

On Wednesday figures from Tourism Research Australia showed a major spike in the number of international tourists visiting Tasmania, increasing 22 percent over the past 12 months.

China's President Xi Jinping met some of the students joining the trip during his brief visit to Tasmania following the G20 summit last year.

Launceston-based college, Scotch Oakburn is aiming to boost the number of international boarders from China to its school to more than 10.

"We very much like to be over there promoting the school and hopefully attracting a few Chinese students back into Launceston," Ian Chesterman, the school's director of development, told the ABC.

Chesterman believed Tasmania could offer Chinese school boarders more than its Australian state rivals.

"It's a safe city, it's a safe environment that we operate and importantly it's not in a market currently flooded by Chinese students so those coming here have a real opportunities to fully immerse in local Australian and local Tasmanian culture," Chesterman said.