Govt does airline deal with China

It's about to get easier to fly to China.

Following a recent China-Australia free trade agreement, the government has reached a deal to allow airlines to fly an extra 4000 people per week between major cities in the two countries.

Over the next two years that number will increase by 7000 to a total of 33,500 people able to travel between China and Australia's major gateways like Sydney.

"This new deal increases connectivity between our economies, particularly in tourism," Trade Minister Andrew Robb said.

Airlines are already able to offer unlimited services between China and regional Australian ports like Cairns, Darwin and the Gold Coast.

Last year about 100 million Chinese travelled internationally, with numbers expected to increase to 200 million in five years.

"(The agreement) will ensure we are well placed to capture our share of this growth," Mr Robb said.

"China is our most valuable tourism export market."