Eight teams are set to contest the event in the Chinese city, which was awarded the tournament last year.

Sweden have won seven of the eight editions of the competition to date, including the most recent Championships in the United States two years ago.

On each occasion they have beaten Russia in the gold medal match, although their rivals won the 2014 final in Finland.

The two nations will begin as the clear favourites to secure victory in Chendge, with other nations hoping to break their run of consecutive final clashes.

Sweden and Russia will both feature in Group A of the competition, where they will be joined by Norway and the US.

The opening day will see defending champions Sweden take on the US and Russia will meet Norway. 

Group B is scheduled to begin with a match between Finland and hosts China followed by Estonia facing Switzerland.

Group matches are due to draw to a close on Thursday (January 11), with quarter-finals taking place the following day.

Semi-finals and medal matches are scheduled to be held on Saturday (January 13).

Bandy is a sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee but it is currently not on the Winter Olympic programme.

The decision to stage the event in China was viewed as a boost to their hopes of appearing at Beijing 2022.

Competition is set to take place on a frozen lake.