A press conference for?the third Asian Beach Games was held on June 15. [dzwww.com]

The third Asian Beach Games will kick off on Saturday evening in Haiyang, a coastal city of?Shangdong Province.

"After five years of hard work, the preparation work for the 3rd Asian Beach Games has been completed. Now, Haiyang is ready," said Li Weicheng, member of the executive board of the organization committee, in a press conference on Friday.

Li Weicheng, member of the executive board of the organization committee, in a press conference for the third Asian Beach Games on June 15. [dzwww.com]

With its opening ceremony to kick off on June 16, more than 1,600 athletes from 45 countries and regions will compete in 13 sports, including dragon boat, beach handball, beach soccer, cliff climbing, windsurfing, powered paragliding, beach volleyball and beach basketball.

Host China has sent a delegation of 164 athletes to the Asian Beach Games, while Thailand, another regional powerhouse on beach arena, also has sent 164 athletes.

The torch relay was held during June 12 to 14. It began in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, on Tuesday and moved to Yantai city on Wednesday before arriving in Haiyang Thursday.

As one of five major multi-sport galas in Asia, the biennial competition was held in 2008 in Bali, Indonesia for the first time and the second was in Muscat, Oman. The next two editions after the Games in Haiyang have already been awarded to Phuket, Thailand, in 2014 and to Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 2016.