It will be the first time the nation has ever staged the event, the main victim of the FIH’s new event portfolio for 2019 onwards as it has been scrapped.

FIH President Leandro Negre, who is stepping down as head of the governing body and will be replaced by either Australia’s Ken Read, India’s Narinder Batra or David Balbirnie of Ireland, believes Changzhou will provide a fitting finale to the Champions Trophy as a concept.

"China will always have a special place in hockey’s heart, with the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games providing an incredible platform for our sport," he said.

"China is a nation renowned for staging world class sports events and with millions of passionate sports fans across the nation I’m sure the 2018 Hockey Champions Trophy in Changzhou will be a fitting farewell for this prestigious event."

Changzhou, which played host to hockey at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, is due to stage the Champions Trophy from November 17 to 25 at the Wujin Hockey Stadium.

Three teams for the event in two years’ time have already been confirmed, with England, representing Rio 2016 Olympic Games gold medallist Great Britain, joining 2016 winners Argentina and the host nation.

The six country list will be completed by the 2017 Hockey World League champions, the 2018 Hockey World Cup winners and an invitational place to be decided by the FIH Executive Board.

"We are delighted to take our sport back to China, a nation that has so much potential in terms of sporting development and commercial opportunities," outgoing FIH chief executive Kelly Fairweather said.

"China put together an incredibly exciting bid which aligned with many of the initiatives outlined in our 10-year Hockey Revolution strategy.

"We look forward to working with them over the next two years to deliver what will be a truly memorable Hockey Champions Trophy in 2018."