THE AFL has taken a gamble by going into China.

Taking the Australian game abroad and making the commitment to play a home and away match overseas, as Port Adelaide and St Kilda have agreed to do until 2021, shows how invested head office is.

The Power have already been twice, flying over to face Gold Coast the past two years and will clash with the Saints on Sunday, June 2 at Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai.

According to AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, the expansion into China is on track, which is why the League is set to open an office in China featuring two full-time staff members who will primarily focus on building commercial relationships.

This isn't a gimmick. The League is serious about this project, as McLachlan indicated to AFL.com.au.

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"The long-term vision is to have a real relationship with China. The exact form of that is fluid but this game is a big commitment," McLachlan said.

"In doing it, I think we're showing the more than one million Australians of Chinese descent that we want to have a relationship with them.

"It's also a logistical and financial commitment that says we see opportunities partnering with Chinese companies who want to do business with Australia, and we want to have commercial and trade relationships.

"This is our third year and it's been going well."

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For anyone arguing the AFL is wasting money by going to China, McLachlan has a counter.

"The game has been breaking even since year one, and that first couple of years has been significant," McLachlan said.

"It's given us confidence now to open up a sales office in Shanghai and so we have realistic but bold expectations on a three-to-five year basis.

"It takes time to build relationships but if you take a medium-term view, as I said, three-to-five years, then there are proper targets, because we believe in our game and we believe in the opportunities with Chinese business."

McLachlan understands the enormity of the task the AFL has undertaken, but he's optimistic.

"We've taken a big risk up there and we feel it's starting to pay off," he said.

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