The party visited to find out more about how an Australian sheep station is run, and asked Mr Sykes lots of questions about his farming operations.

Mr Sykes runs approximately 4,000 head of sheep, including both Merinos and crossbreeds, 200 head of cattle for beef production.

He also grows oats, canola and wheat crops.

The thickness of Pelican’s merino wool is around 20 microns, which means that it can be used for suits, jumpers and other top quality woollen clothing items.

Throughout December and January Mr Sykes also harvests his crops.

Goulburn Mulwaree Mayor, Geoff Kettle and Cr Robin Saville also accompanied the delegation.

He welcomed the visit by the delegation and thanked Mayor Kettle and Cr Saville for facilitating the visit.

“Today was a good chance to show the group that we have such a mixed variety of farming practices here at Pelican Sheep Station, including a cropping enterprise, a lamb enterprise and a wool enterprise, of which the delegation saw the whole lot,” Mr Sykes said.

“It also gave the guys a chance to come out and be in a large area without many people around except for us, so I was able to give them a little bit of information and they certainly took lots of notes and worked out the prices of lamb, cattle and the various crops in the Australian market at the moment.”

Delegation leader Deputy Director, Information Centre in the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Guo Yonglian was impressed with the whole operation.

“It has been our great pleasure to visit here today and to have a better understanding of this farm,” he said.

“The operational practices here on the farm provided us with a good learning experience.

We have witnessed the fine quality of Mr Sykes’ merino wool, lamb, beef and other agricultural products, which will definitely enhance the bilateral value and relations between our two countries.”

The delegation had previously visited a few universities in the Melbourne area where they learnt a lot about different technologies used in Australian farming practices.

“Our next venue will be the University of Sydney, where we will learn about the new uses of technology in the agricultural sector,” Mr Guo said.

Mayor Kettle and Cr Saville hosted a civic reception at the Council Chambers before the delegation headed to Mr Sykes’ property.

“We have an arrangement with some people who organise delegations from the People’s Republic of China,” Cr Kettle said.

“Goulburn is in close proximity to Canberra and Sydney, and the delegations like to come and see the operations we run here.

We obviously have some very good examples of the relevant subjects that they come to Australia to study, from a regional based perspective.

I look forward to hosting a similar delegation in the future, because it showcases Goulburn.

China is one of Australia’s major trading partners with whom we now have a free trade agreement.”