The 2014 World Men's Curling Championship will kick off in China's capital Beijing city on Saturday, which has attracted 12 top men's curling teams in the world, according to World Curling Federation (WCF).

This is the first WCF World Championship event to be staged in China and only the third time that any WCF World Championship has been hosted in the Pacific-Asia region. Previously, World Women's Curling Championships were held in Japan in 2007 and in South Korea in 2009.

The nine-day championship will feature 12 teams representing the hosts China, the Czech Republic, USA, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Scotland, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Five of them, namely China, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Russia took part in the recent Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

"The award of the 2014 World Men's Championship to Beijing is a major landmark in the development of curling," said WCF President Kate Caithness following a signing ceremony at the WCF secretariat in Perth, Scotland this January.

"In the last decade we have witnessed a surge in growth of curling in the world, especially in Asian region," she noted in a congratulatory letter to the organizing committee recently, "We look forward to working with China to stage a first class show for the world to enjoy."

Lan Li, deputy director of the Chinese Winter Sports Federation of the State Sport General Administration, told the press on Tuesday that the Chinese men's curling team has achieved the best result of the history in the last Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

"The Chinese team has been prepared for this championship from early March and will first battle the strong Germany on Saturday. Presently, all our players are in good condition and stepping up training in Beijing," he said.

Located in the Haidian district of the city, the Beijing Capital Gymnasium was recently renovated after hosting the volleyball events during the 2008 Olympic Games. Endi

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