MELBOURNE forward Matthew Bate expects his club will invite more Chinese players to train with it after October's AFL exhibition match against the Brisbane Lions in Shanghai.

The Demons have taken a keen interest in promoting football in the country for several years, and in 2008 hosted two Chinese players for pre-season training.

Bate said the exercise had been valuable for Melbourne and that this year's trip should encourage greater interest.

"They were very disciplined and trained as hard as anyone and by the end of it their skills were quite good, so they'll take that experience back home and spread the word," he said.

"Especially after the trip in October, there will be more people there keen to come over and have that experience."

A second domestic competition has started in China this year, and the AFL's China development manager Andrew Sawitsch has launched a modified Auskick program at several schools in Shanghai.

Bate, who travelled to China with the Demons in 2007, said the game was gaining momentum and wouldn't rule out the possibility an AFL club could draft a Chinese player in the future.

"It will probably take a while [for players to be recruited from China] because AFL is a game that you need to start learning from when you're pretty young, just so you have that ball-handling ability. But I think if they start learning it now, I don't see why not," he said.

"I think AFL is building more and more there. There are a lot of expatriates over there who are teaching them the game and they've obviously started some of those sides. Chinese people are kind of joining into it and getting pretty enthusiastic, so I'm really looking forward to seeing where the game is at when I go back in October."

The Lions made history last year when they signed the first Japanese-born player to an AFL list.

Sean Yoshiura was rookie-listed in December after impressing recruiters in 2009 with his performances for local club Mt Gravatt.

Teammate Matt Maguire supported the AFL prospects for players of Asian origin, especially having seen the progress of Yoshiura first-hand.

"He's starting to play some good footy," Maguire said.

"I suppose if you're in the system for long enough and we've got good coaches, so you'll actually learn the game and learn the skills. I wouldn't put it past anyone of any culture ... it's a game for all shapes and sizes.

"He (Yoshiura) is quite lean but he has other things in his advantage. He's an extremely good runner and very quick. The game lends itself to all kinds of players and if you're a bit more slight you can use your speed out on the wings."