( CNN ) -- China will host the World Athletics Championships for the first time in 2015 , when Beijing will become the fourth Asian city to stage the biennial event . Beijing , which hosted the 2008 Olympic Games , will follow in the footsteps of Japan 's Tokyo ( 1991 ) and Osaka ( 2007 ) , and South Korea 's Daegu -- which will host next year 's 13th edition . `` To help build up our sport and the culture of athletics in a country of 1.6 billion inhabitants is a great opportunity , '' International Association of Athletics Federation president Lamine Diack said in a statement on Saturday . `` As we sometimes say , China is not a country , it 's a continent . So this is a fantastic opportunity for our sport and for the sport in China . '' China , which hosted the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing , has targeted top athletics events since the 1980s . `` This is the most important sporting event for China since the 2008 Olympic Games , '' Beijing 's Vice-Mayor Liu Jingmin told the IAAF website . `` We thank you for your trust . We will deliver a high standard event in Beijing which will open a new chapter in the Championships ' standards . '' Meanwhile , China continued its dominance of the Asian Games it is hosting in Guangzhou on Saturday , extending its gold medal tally to 138 . South Korea remained second with 52 golds , while Japan has 29 ahead of Iran on eight and Hong Kong and Thailand ( both seven ) . China completed a clean sweep of the seven table tennis titles , with No . 1 Ma Long coming from behind to beat compatriot and defending champion Wang Hao 9-11 11-8 11-7 11-3 4-11 12-10 in the men 's final . Li Xiaoxia won the women 's gold , beating her doubles partner and defending champion Guo Yue after saving a match-point in the sixth game . Wang Shixian won the women 's badminton singles title in another all-Chinese final , upsetting top-ranked Wang Xin . But China was denied gold in the men 's snooker , with Hong Kong 's Marco Fu beating two-time defending champion Ding Junhui 4-2 in the final . And its women 's football team will not contest Monday 's title match after losing 1-0 in the semifinals to Japan , with Shinobu Ohno scoring an extra-time winner . Japan will face North Korea , who also needed extra-time before beating South Korea 3-1 .
The 15th edition of the World Team Championships will be held in China . Beijing , which hosted the 2008 Olympics , named as fourth Asian city to stage event . China continues hosting of the Asian Games it is hosting in Guangzhou . Clean sweep of seven table tennis medals brings China 's gold medal tally to 138 .