The Chinese Yachting Association (CYA) launched the national sailing league on Monday, as the country aims to further improve its competitiveness in the sport ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The remaining months of 2018 will see two events in East China's Shandong Province and South China's Hainan Province in four classes: men's laser and laser radial and RS:X. The prize money for the league has yet to be announced.
In 2019, the league will tour through eight to 10 cities in the country, with class 470 and kiteboarding in both sexes expected to be included in the schedule.
"Establishing the league is a trial for the CYA as we hope to improve the competitiveness of Chinese sailing," CYA President Zhang Xiaodong said Monday in Beijing.
The CYA also established a family sailing race this year.
"Having different sailing competitions will encourage more people to participate in the event … it will be a start of a long-term plan."
China's sailing team has qualified for the Tokyo Games in four classes: men's and women's RS:X, women's laser radial and 470. Olympic qualifying events will continue at other world-class events before 2020.
China won medals in the aforementioned classes at the Asian Games last month, bagging three gold and four silver medals.
Female Chinese sailing athlete Chen Peina was the only one to win a medal for China at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, where she claimed a silver medal in the women's RS:X.
