The event in China’s capital city serves as the second competition of the UIAA World Cup season.

The campaign began last week with Russia’s Maria Tolokonina triumphing in both the women’s lead and speed events in Cheongsong, South Korea.

She had headed into the competition on a high following her double gold at the Ice Climbing World Combined Championships in Moscow last month.

Tolokonina will now hope to build on her promising start to the season in Beijing as the 31-year-old looks to build an early lead in the series standings.

Russia’s Anton Nemov and world combined champion Nikolai Kuzovlev won the men’s speed and lead events respectively last week.

The duo will expect to come under pressure from the South Korean pairing of Heeyong Park and Lee Younggeon, who missed out on topping the podium in front of a home crowd, in the Chinese capital.

Competition is set to take place over three days, with qualification the focus tomorrow.

The host nation will be represented by an 18-member team.

Along with China, South Korea and Russia, a further 12 nations will compete.

Azerbaijan, Canada, Croatia, Finland, France, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Poland, Sweden and the United States are expected to be represented.

Around 80 athletes are due to compete.

The competition is the latest winter event to take place in Beijing as the Chinese capital prepares to host the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2022.