On Mar 17, China Cup, a three-day Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournament, kicked off in Shijiazhuang’s Hebei Sports Center.

Li Guihua, vice-director of the General Administration of Sport of China, Li Dongqi vice-director of Hebei Province Sports Bureau and CGA President Li Qing delivered opening speeches in Hebei’s capital as it played host to the multiplayer first-person shooter video game.

Opening ceremony of the China Cup [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The champion and silver medal winner of the 2016 CSL and four international elite teams from Sweden, Singapore and Denmark were invited to compete for the top prize of 680,000 yuan.

Li Guihua, vice-director of the General Administration of Sport of China [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Li Dongqi, vice-director of Hebei Province Sports Bureau [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

CGA President Li Qing [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Li Dongqi said that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is one of the core zones of China’s e-sport industry, and hosting the China Cup will help Shijiazhuang and Hebei to build their city brands.

The competition was supported by the General Administration of Sport of China and hosted by Hebei Province Sports Bureau and CGA, an e-sports company in Shanghai.