The Chinese women's epee team stands on the podium after winning a bronze medal at the 2018 World Fencing Championships in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province on July 25. [Photo/Xinhua]

In response to the mire, Wang admitted that it could not be transformed over a short period, but pledged to ramp up efforts to make some change. "We will step up identifying the existing talents, as well as looking for the potential stars of the future," he said, adding that a relaxed policy had been implemented during the Junior World Fencing Championships to broaden recruitment channels.

The policy has replaced the previous selection method, which commonly featured selecting the best athletes from sports schools nationwide. It instead adopted a points-based system that is open to both amateurs and sports school graduates.

"I would like to send a clear message that anyone with a Chinese nationality is able to compete on behalf of China as long as their rankings, especially their world rankings, meet the qualifications," Wang said.

Looking to the future, Wang said they would sum up the lessons learnt from the championships, pull together, and get ready for the Asian Games scheduled to be held in Indonesia in mid-August as well as the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

The Chinese women's epee team claimed China's first and only medal on the seventh day of the world championships after sealing a 45-42 victory in the bronze-medal game against Russia.

The championships, running from July 19 to 27, saw fencers from 109 countries across the world vying for 12 titles in foil, epee and sabre.