Former Chinese international Li Tie is tipped to take charge of the Chinese team for the East Asian Soccer Championship in December, according to local media reports.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss preparation plans for the event, which is slated for Dec. 10-18 in South Korea. Li, who is currently the head coach of Chinese Super League side Wuhan Zall, showed up at the meeting, a signal that he will be tasked with leading the Chinese team at the regional tournament, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday.

"It is obvious that the CFA intends to foster local coaches in handing Li Tie this task," the Beijing Youth Daily said.

Chinese national team manager Marcello Lippi has opted to skip the East Asian Soccer Championship as his side are focusing on their World Cup qualifying campaign. The CFA has thus decided to field a team selected from the domestic league and pick a local coach.

Li was a regular member of the Chinese national team between 1999 and 2008. The 42-year-old hung up his boots in 2011 and then began a coaching career. He worked as an assistant to Lippi at Guangzhou Evergrand during the 2012-2013 season.

Apart from China, this year's East Asian Soccer Championship will also feature teams from Japan, Hong Kong of China and hosts South Korea. 

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