GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND - AUGUST 27: Aaron Hall of the Suns clashes with Sam Grayof the Power during the round 23 AFL match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Port Adelaide Power at Metricon Stadium on August 27, 2016 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Jason O'Brien/AFL Media/Getty Images)

History will be made in 2017, as China will host an AFL match for premiership points for the first time.

Port Adelaide will host the Gold Coast Suns at Shanghai's Jiangwan Stadium in Round 8, on Sunday May 14th.

The AFL believe this is the first time any major sporting league in the world has taken a regular season game to China.

Power chairman David Koch said the chance to play in China will open new commercial opportunities for Port Adelaide, and the club are looking forward to taking Australia's number one game abroad.

“This is a moment many people thought would never happen, let alone as soon as 2017,” Koch said.

“The AFL will become the first elite foreign competition to play a regular season game for points in China, beating the likes of the NBA, English Premier League, Major League Baseball and NFL. That is a monumental achievement in itself and speaks volumes of the strength of the relationship between our two nations.

“This is so much more significant that just playing a game for premiership points on foreign soil. This is a landmark moment in the development of Australia’s sporting, cultural, political, economic and tourism ties with China.

“The appetite for AFL football in China is even stronger than we could have imagined when Port Adelaide began forging relationships there.”

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