China might be hungry for Australian iron ore and coal but its interest in “the lucky country” does not end there. Australia is proving to be a popular holiday destination for China’s wealthy middle class.

Figures released yesterday show the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Australia has surpassed those from Britain for the first time, making China the country’s second-biggest source of international visitors after New Zealand.

In the year to September, arrivals from China increased 17 per cent to 573,000, overtaking the UK’s 558,000, according to Tourism Australia, extending a trend that has seen visitor numbers from China triple in the past decade. China was Australia’s most valuable inbound tourism market last year, worth A$3.5bn. In a break with tradition, this year TA launched its global advertising campaign in Shanghai.