Rescuers in China are scouring heavily forested slopes with hopes fading of finding any survivors from the 132 people aboard a China Eastern Airlines passenger jet that crashed a day earlier in the mountains of southern Guangxi.

Parts of the Boeing 737-800 jet were strewn across mountain slopes charred by fire after China's first crash involving a commercial jetliner since 2010.

Burnt remains of identity cards, purses and wallets were also seen, state media reported.

Flight MU5735 was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, to Guangzhou in Guangdong province bordering Hong Kong, when it suddenly plunged from cruising altitude at about the time when it would normally start to descend ahead of its landing.

Chinese media carried brief highway video footage from a vehicle's dashcam apparently showing a jet diving to the ground behind trees at an angle of about 35 degrees off vertical. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.

"The plane fell vertically from the sky," state-run Beijing Youth Daily quoted a local resident as saying.

"Although I was far away, I could still see that it was a plane. The plane did not emit smoke during the fall. It fell into the mountains and started a fire."

Lu, 64, a villager near the crash site who declined to provide his first name, told Reuters he heard a "bang, bang" at the time of the crash. "It was like thunder!" he said.

State media have described the situation as "grim", and that the possibility of all onboard perishing could not be ruled out.

A working group from the Chinese aviation regulator was deployed to the crash site, alongside fire rescue and paramilitary forces.

Vice Premier Liu He left for Wuzhou city in Guangxi on Monday night to oversee the rescue efforts and crash investigation after an emergency government meeting.

State media described the crash site as being hemmed in by mountains on three sides, with access provided by just one tiny path. Rain was forecast for the area this week.

Authorities barred journalists and onlookers from approaching the site, keeping the road clear for emergency service vehicles.

US-based aviation analyst Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Company said investigators will need the flight data recorders to understand what might have caused the abrupt descent suggested by Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data. ADS-B is a technology that allows aircraft to be tracked.

The crash comes as Boeing seeks to rebound from several overlapping crises, including the coronavirus pandemic and crashes involving its 737 MAX model.

"Accidents that start at cruise altitude are usually caused by weather, deliberate sabotage, or pilot error," Dan Elwell, a former Federal Aviation Administration head, told Reuters.

Elwell, who led the FAA during the 737-MAX crisis, said mechanical failures in modern commercial jets were rare at cruise altitude.

China Eastern and two of its subsidiaries on Monday grounded its fleet of 737-800 planes, state media reported. The group has 225 of the aircraft, data from British aviation consultancy IBA shows.

Other Chinese airlines have yet to cancel any of their flights that use 737-800 aircraft as of Tuesday, according to data from Chinese aviation data provider Flight Master.

The last crash of a commercial jetliner in China was in 2010, when an Embraer E-190 regional jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed, killing 44 of 96 people on board.

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Tickets are now available for those hoping to pay their in-person respects to cricket legend Shane Warne at his state memorial service.

Bookings opened at 3pm on Tuesday through Ticketek for the Melbourne Cricket Ground event which will take place at 7pm on March 30.

It will be the wider public's first chance to say goodbye to Warne following his death from a suspected heart attack at the Thai resort island of Koh Samui on March 4.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is expecting tens of thousands of Victorians to attend the state memorial.

"We're working very closely with the family to make sure that it is a celebration of his life," Mr Andrews said in parliament on Tuesday.

"It's a matter of how much space is required for staging and things of that nature, but there's no COVID limit or anything like that. There will be as many (mourners) as we can get in there."

Patrons will need to be fully vaccinated to attend the service, which is expected to run for two hours.

Gates will open at 5.30pm and guests must be seated by 6.45pm for a 7pm start.

Rather than flowers, Warne's family has asked people to donate to The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.

Warne's state memorial follows a private funeral held on Sunday.

About 80 guests, including Warne's three children and parents, attended the service at the St Kilda Football Club.

The MCG event will be livestreamed on the Victorian government's website.

The ground's Great Southern Stand will be renamed in Warne's honour.

© AAP 2022

Scott Morrison has promised programs in the upcoming federal budget that address rising living costs would be responsible and not just a "blank cheque".

It comes as the prime minister announced a $60 million tourism investment on Tuesday while in Cairns.

The announcement also includes a $45 million cash injection for Tourism Australia to help focus on regional destinations which had been impacted by a decline in international visitors due to the pandemic.

An additional $15 million will go specifically to Tourism Tropical North Queensland in a bid to promote the Great Barrier Reef to visitors.

Ahead of next Tuesday's federal budget, Mr Morrison said he was conscious the impact rising living costs were having on people, particularly at the petrol pump, with fuel rising above $2 a litre.

"We ensure that that support we provide is effective, but it's also responsible," Mr Morrison told reporters on Tuesday.

"I've heard the shadow treasurer today thinking that he's got a blank cheque and he can spend as much as he likes."

The prime minister remains hopeful regions such as far north Queensland would get a flow of backpackers and international tourists back following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

He said tourism markets in the United Kingdom, as well as North America, had responded strongly since international borders reopened.

"We can't affect what countries are doing when tourists go back to their country, but we will see this build up. Kiwis will be back in force, no doubt, and it will be great," Mr Morrison said.

"I've got great confidence that over the next couple of years the Australian tourism industry will get back strongly on its feet."

While state leaders such as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews have backed a proposal to cut the fuel excise in the wake of high fuel prices, Mr Morrison remained tight-lipped on whether such a measure would be included in the budget.

"We are extremely conscious of the impact, particularly of the rise in fuel prices, on the cost of living and the cost of doing business, because fuel prices flow right through," he said.

"(The invasion of Ukraine) is having a big impact on the global economy, and particularly on the price of oil by the barrel, and that is pushing these costs up. Australians understand that."

Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers will look to hand down his own federal budget before the end of 2022, should Labor win May's election.

Dr Chalmers told a business lobby that Labor would focus on the quality of its spending.

"Our fiscal strategy recognises now is not the time to flick the switch to austerity," Dr Chalmers told the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"Nor is it time to spray money around unnecessarily."

The government also announced an additional $50.3 million will be invested in seven priority projects as well as carbon capture and storage infrastructure.

The projects are expected to safeguard against potential energy shortages, keep electricity prices stable and create jobs in regional Australia.

Elsewhere, the government also announced it will spend $480 million, alongside another $270 million from NBN Co, to increase internet speeds and allow more people to connect to the NBN's fixed wireless service in the regions.

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An iconic image of Marilyn Monroe created by Andy Warhol is coming to auction, with Christie's auction house estimating the price at about $US200 million ($A270 million).

The silkscreen image known as Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, a close-up of Monroe with her hair in yellow, her eyeshadow blue and her lips red, is slated to be part of a week of sales in May, Christie's said.

If the image meets the sale estimate, the 1964 painting would be the most expensive 20th-century artwork to be auctioned.

The proceeds of the sale will go to the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation Zurich, which is putting the painting up for auction.

The foundation aims to help children with health care and educational programs.

Warhol created numerous images of Monroe, and this particular painting has been exhibited in museums around the world.

© AP 2022