Tourism Australia is hoping the nation's love of sport, great outdoors, and "mateship" at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai will encourage more Chinese to travel Down Under.

A game of Australian Rules football at the Expo has been arranged between Brisbane and Melbourne clubs for October 17, and organisers hope the spirit of the game will be infectious.

Even the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has expressed support for the game, saying Australian Rules football "reflects Australia's national values of courage, enterprise, resilience and 'mateship'.''

It also fits in well with the Australian love of the great outdoors that is of the themes of the Australian pavilion at World Expo 2010, which will run from May 1 to October 31.

The World Expo 2010 theme of 'Better City, Better Life' will be addressed by focusing on the smart urban solutions in Australia, and the fact that many Australian cities are consistently ranking as among the world's most livable.

Tourism Australia, the government body trusted with promoting Australia as a tourism destination, will also use the Australian pavilion to push into the lucrative mainland Chinese tourism market.

Australian tourism chiefs are predicting this will within three years account for the third-largest number of tourists, with a growth of 11 per cent over the next five years. Currently, China is ranked fifth, behind New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan.