Thirty Chinese travel agency  managers have been receiving a three-month training course run by  the Australian tourism authorities via the Internet since August  22, the "Economic Information Daily" reported Tuesday.

   These managers are from Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the  capital of south China's Guangdong Province. It is the first time  the Chinese mainland tourism sector has received such investment  from a foreign counterpart organization, said the newspaper.

   Before this, Australia had operated similar training courses in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macao and  Taiwan.

   A total of 120,000 Chinese nationals visited Australia last  year, and it is expected the number of Chinese tourists to  Australia will increase to 160,000 this year.

   Among those who will visit Australia at their own expense, 40  percent are from Guangdong Province, 35 percent from Beijing and  20 percent from Shanghai.