Sweden, South Korea, Portugal, Argentina and India have all entered the race to host the tournament.

If Portugal or Argentina are successful, they will host the Championships for the first time.

South Korea are set to bid again after the 2020 Championships Finals that were due to be held in Busan were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sweden last hosted the event in 2018 in Halmstad, the seventh time the nation had staged the Championships.

India last held the tournament in New Delhi in 1987.

A new phase will now take place, where the ITTF will release the requirements and resources to the bidders who have expressed their interest.

Interested parties have until June 30 to submit their final bids.

Between July 1 and August 22, the ITTF will conduct evaluations and inspections of each respective bid and candidates will then be invited to present their plans before ITTF members cast their votes for the host of the competition.

"We are really excited to have received a record number of interests from these five member associations to host the World Table Tennis Championships," said ITTF interim competition director Gabor Felegyi.

"This highlights the stature of the tournament as well as the economic benefits it brings to their country.

"We look forward to evaluating their respective bids as the process heads into its next phase."

The World Table Tennis Championships was first held in 1926 in London.

It was last held in 2019 in Budapest and is set to return this year in Houston in the United States, followed by Chengdu in China in 2022.

The 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals, the first to be held in the United States, is set to feature a revamped format of 128 singles players and 64 pairs in each doubles competition.