China will send its best team to participate in the 2005 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, an official said on Tuesday.

The Chinese team will comprise of double Olympic gold medallistand world champion Yang Yang(A), women's 500m world No. 1 Wang Meng and veteran men's skater Li Jiajun, according to Tong Lixin, head of the Skating Department of China Winter Sports Administration Centre.

"Women's competition is mainly a clash between China and South Korea, where Wang Meng has advantage in the 500m and we won all the six stages in the 2004 World Cup," said Tong.

The annual tournament, which is the top level race orgainzed byInternational Skating Union (ISU), will be held in Beijing from March 11 to 13th, where about 170 world top skaters from 33 countries and regions will take part in 500m, 1,000m, 1,500m, overall and relay race competitions.

All countries and regions will send their biggest squads with star-studded line-ups including the Olympic champion Ohno Apolo Anton of the United States, who scored a maximum of 200 points to top the men's final overall standing of 2004 World Cup.

South Korea have not submit the list to the organizing committee, but it is believed the stars like Choi Eun-kyung, Salt Lake Olympic champion, and the 2004 world champion Ahn Hyun-soo will show up.

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2005)