The women's national volleyball team of China will participate in the upcoming 24th edition of the FIVB World Grand Prix in preparation for the Rio Olympics in August, head coach Lang Ping said on Thursday.

As per the annual women's international volleyball tournament's schedule, the China will host Thailand, Germany and the United States from June 10 to 12 in Beilun. The event will be held at the Beilun Gymkhana, an indoor sports arena located in Chejiang Province's city of Ningbo and boasts a capacity of 8,000 seats.

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After the competition, the national team will head to Macao to play against Belgium, Serbia and Brazil from June 17 to 19 at the Macao Forum before playing Netherlands, Germany and USA at the Hong Kong Coliseum for the final stage of the preliminary round of Group 1 from June 24 to 26.

The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix is the last and the most important competition for China ahead of the team's Olympic campaign.

 "I hope my team can earn more experience and get more familiar with our opponents through the Grand Prix. Meanwhile, I expect to put our skills and tactics from training to real test so as to better prepare for the Rio Olympic Games," the 55-year-old Lang Ping, who was also known as "Iron Hammer", said during an interaction with the media.

China is currently ranked No. 2 in the world by the FIVB only behind the United States. The national team has competed in eight Summer Olympics and has already bagged gold medals in two Olympic Games; Los Angeles (1984) and Athens (2004).

In its 13 appearances, China has claimed the World Championship title in 1982 and 1986, winning the gold medal in Peru and Czechoslovakia, respectively. China has also won the FIVB Volleyball World Cup four times; in 1981, 1985, 2003 and 2015. 

Tagsfivb, fivb World grand prix, fivb rankings, FIVB World Volleyball Championship, FIVB World Cup, volleyball, 2016 Rio Olympics, china, Rio Olympics