MUMBAI — Beijing and Shanghai are among 10 Chinese cities that will host the Asian Cup finals in 2023, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Saturday. China's desire to showcase its ability as a future World Cup host got a boost when its football association (CFA) was awarded the rights to host the quadrennial tournament at an extraordinary AFC congress in Paris in June. China, which will host the tournament for the second time after 2004, had been one of four nations to initially bid to host the 24-team competition with South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand also submitting bids before pulling out. Tianjin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen and Suzhou will be the other host cities for the 18th edition of the continent's premier competition that will be held in June and July, 2023.

Source: International New York Times December 28, 2019 05:15 UTC