(Beijing, March 17) With the approval of the State Council, northeast China's Liaoning has officially become the host province of the 12th National Games in the year 2013.

According to Sun Yongyan, director of the Liaoning Provincial Administration of Sport, it is of great significance for Liaoning to win the bid to host the 2013 National Games, as these Games will help give an impetus to the local economic growth amidst the current global financial crisis. He hoped that local people would give energetic support to the hosting of the Games by getting actively involved in preparing for this quadrennial national sports extravaganza.

The 11th National Games are scheduled to open on October 11, 2009 in Jinan, Shandong Province.

Related Story

• Liaoning regains title of Chinese women's basketball League(02-06 09:06)
• Northeast China's Liaoning Province to host 12th National Games(01-21 09:24)
• Basketball: Liaoning pulls one back on 105-96 win(02-21 18:02)
• Forward Sampson joins Liaoning Hunters(12-25 16:14)
• National Games finalist Zhang Guolin crowned in men's 1500-meter at Chinese City Games(11-01 09:40)