Aiming at strengthening national cohesion through athletic exchange, China's top sports body is welcoming overseas athletes with Chinese ancestry to compete at the National Games.

The General Administration of Sport of China announced on Wednesday that the 13th National Games in Tianjin, to be held from Aug 27 to Sept 8, will accept registration from foreign athletes of Chinese origin or ancestry, as well as Chinese citizens living abroad, for the first time in the 58-year history of the quadrennial event. Chinese previously could not register from abroad.

Of the 31 sports at the games, 26 will be open for overseas Chinese to compete, including swimming, track and field, table tennis and badminton, according to the administration's Athletic Department.