Chinese Victorians have received a formal apology from Premier Daniel Andrews for a racist gold rush-era policy that forced many Chinese migrants to walk from South Australia to the goldfields.

The apology came after a group of walkers re-enacted the journey starting in Robe, South Australia, and arriving in Melbourne on Thursday after a 20-day trek.

Premier Daniel Andrews with one of the walk organisers, Charles Zhang, after the apology. Credit:Justin McManus

During the gold rush, Chinese migrants were subject to a tax for entering a port in Victoria. It meant many were forced to make the journey to the goldfields by foot, walking hundreds of kilometres from South Australia.

Mr Andrews described the former policy as a shameful injustice of the past.