Tongan athletes from nine sporting disciplines will begin training in China next month as part of a new aid project called the "China Aid Project on Sports Technical Assistance to Tonga-2018”. The training initiative occurs at a crucial point – just eight months before the 2019 Pacific Games are scheduled to begin in Samoa on 7 July, 2019.

A group of Tongan swimmers and shuttlers (badminton) have reportedly already arrived in Hunan Province and attended a welcoming ceremony on Friday 23 November.

The nine sports covered in the programme are Boxing, Badmington, Archery, Swimming, Athletics, Table Tennis and Volleyball. Athletes will attend training bases in the Provinces of Hunan, Yunnan and Sichuan.

The deputy general manager of China Sports International Co.Ltd., Pang Xiaofeng, told the Xinhua News Agency that about 100 Tongan athletes and coaches will be trained in China between December 2018 and July 2020 – with each training session lasting 60 days.

As part of the programme, Chinese coaches will be sent to Tonga for one month and training equipment will be donated.