The four-team tournament will celebrate the opening of the new Haikou Stadium and will include A-League rivals Sydney FC as well as Beijing Goan and Shanghai Shenhua.

Former top flight winger James Virgili, who played for the Jets from 2009 until 2015, is heading over as a triallist.

The 25-year-old has been playing in the NPL with Broadmeadow Magic since departing the Chinese-owned A-League outfit.

Apart from Virgili, Jets coach Ernie Merrick will be taking a young and largely inexperienced squad to Haikou for the three-day event.

“When the offer came through to take part in the tournament, we immediately identified it as a chance to have a look at some of our younger players,” Merrick said.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for them to get some invaluable game time early in the pre-season.”

The core of Merrick’s side will remain in Newcastle with the likes of Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Daniel Georgievski and Nigel Boogaard on an alternative training program.

Ronald Vargas will continue to rehab after having a pin removed from his ankle, while Dimi Petratos will be given a rest following his return from the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

“Most of our senior players will stay in Newcastle, as they’ll be undertaking a slightly different program off the back of a lengthy and rigorous season in 2017/18,” Merrick added.

“We’ll be taking a couple of players from our youth system including Jack Simmons, Jackson Frendo and Kieran Hayes who have all been really impressive when given the opportunity.

“The boys will be coming into the tournament on a fairly light physical preparation, but the chance to play against a couple of quality outfits in Beijing and Shanghai was something we couldn’t pass up.”

The tournament will start on Friday.

Newcastle finished runners-up to Sydney FC in the 2017/18 regular season and were controversially beaten in the Grand Final by an offside Melbourne Victory goal.