Political tension is believed to have contributed to an 80 percent drop in Chinese tourist applications to Australia in the past three months, state media China Daily writes.

According to the paper, bilateral ties have hit a low due to several reasons. One might be the fact that Canberra's granted Rebiya Kadeer, the alleged organizer of the Urumqi riot, a visa in July, despite strong protests from Beijing.

Pang Zhongying, an expert on international relations at the Renmin University of China, said the disputes have affected Australia-bound tourism because well-educated, prosperous Chinese pay the closest attention to such events.

Australian media first believed the tourism drop might be due to concerns over the A/H1N1 influenza and the global recession. Australia has become one of the countries hardest hit by the virus. However, now Australian media has also started speculating in other reasons why tourist might have hit a low.

The recent disputes between the two countries, including the collapse of the Chinalco-Rio Tinto deal in June and Australia's intervention into the commercial spying case of Australian Rio employees in Shanghai, including its Australian executive Stern Hu, is also believed to have added to the tensions.

China canceled the trip of a vice-foreign minister to Australia early this month for a regional meeting, widely viewed as a signal of its discontent.