THE AFL Commission meet this week to rule on an ambitious plan for the Gold Coast Suns to make Aussie Rules history in China next year.

The Suns hope to become the first AFL team to host a clash in China - with premiership points on the line - against South Australian rivals Port Adelaide next season.

Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane said the historic home fixture played away would be in Shanghai.

media_camera Jack Martin of the Gold Coast Suns in action during the team’s round 23 AFL match against Port Adelaide at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night. The Suns’ next home game against Power could be in China. Picture: Jason O'Brien/AFL Media/Getty Images.

“We are waiting on a decision. There will be a decision made by the (AFL) Commission this Tuesday in Melbourne,” he said.

“We have done all our submissions six months ago and just have to wait and see. We have done all the work we have to do to make it happen and like Port Adelaide, we are in the hands of the (AFL) Commission.”

Mr Cochrane said Port Adelaide and its chairman David Koch had thrown their weight behind the proposal.

“He (Koch) and I know each other very well and we have worked together behind the scenes on trying to make it happen,” he said.

“We both agree it’s really important for both of our teams for different reasons.”

Sport is a rapidly growing big business in China — worth an estimated $80 billion.

“Obviously for the Gold Coast with our enormous and growing Chinese connection, we are very keen to be the team that represents AFL in China,” Mr Cochrane said.

The club chairmans confirmed the China proposal before Port’s 13.11 (89) to 9.12 (66) victory against the Suns in front of 9213 fans at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.

Mr Koch said AFL clubs understood they had to “think outside the state (Victoria)” to keep building.

“You have got to think outside the state, think outside the city for different revenue streams,” he said.

“We had to identify areas of growth and the two we identified were China, number one, and higher education, number two. We wanted a growth path where we didn’t have competition from 17 other AFL clubs.”

Australia’s biggest trading partner, China is also our biggest source of international tourists, with more than 1.5 million mainland Chinese visitors to Australia in the past 12 months.

“I rang Cocho (Tony Cochrane) months ago because I knew he was progressive ... and if anyone was going to help us ... it was him,” Mr Koch said.

“The property and tourism connections with China here seemed a perfect fit.”