The tour will also include the Lord Mayor’s Cup on July 7, when Melbourne play sister-city rivals Tianjin Teda.

Victory Chairman Geoff Lord said: “This tour is highly significant in that it establishes Melbourne’s credentials within an Asian context, both for our club and the city. It’s also a great opportunity to provide visibility for our sponsors in the Asian continent.”

Having qualified for the Asian Champions League, Victory coach Ernie Merrick will use the experience as valuable practise for playing in future Asia-based matches.

“We see preparation as one of the fundamental keys to success,” he said. “If you look at the difference between our inaugural season in the Hyundai A-League, compared to our second season, preparation was such an important factor.

“Not only did we have our squad assembled in good time, but we were also able to organise high-quality matches in a competitive environment. We’re expecting that our matches in China against a leading Super League team, and more particularly against the Chinese national team, will provide even better preparation than last season.”

Victory CEO Geoff Miles also said that the club would use the match to help promote it for business and publicity purposes.