Liu is considered as a table tennis great in China having claimed singles and doubles golds at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics before achieving plenty of success as head coach of the country's men's team.

The 46-year-old was announced as head of the CTTA in 2018 and became chair of the WTT Council in 2020.

Last November, Liu was elected as an executive vice-president of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) at the organisation's Annual General Meeting before being entrusted with the "Commercial (WTT)" portfolio at the Executive Committee meeting in January.

The WTT has confirmed that Liu will now take on the role of Board member for "better participating in the ITTF Group tasks".

It is hoped that Liu can use his "unparalleled experience" to boost the WTT in its "mission to transform table tennis and grow the sport worldwide".

"As chair of the WTT Council, I worked to ensure the entire table tennis family work in unison to make WTT a global success," said Liu.

"Now, being a member of the Board too, it will be my honour to continue helping WTT strive for the benefit of our sport.

"It has long been my dream to make table tennis as big globally as it is in my country.

"I believe in the potential of our sport, and in WTT being the right vehicle to reach that goal."

ITTF President Petra Sörling, who is expected to be regularly invited to the WTT Board meetings, believes Liu will make a big impact.

"Mr Liu Guoliang is a legend of our sport who has demonstrated great leadership as President of one of our most successful member associations," said Sörling.

"He has the ITTF Executive Committee's full trust as we know he will be instrumental for World Table Tennis."

Liu replaces WTT managing director Matt Pound to enable the former to focus on day-to-day business operations and activities.

ITTF executive vice-president Khalil Al-Mohannadi and WTT director and ITTF Group chief executive Steve Dainton remain in their positions on the WTT Board.

"I am delighted to welcome Liu Guoliang to the Board," said Al-Mohannad.

"I am convinced that, following our initial successes, he is the right person to help us reach the next level in our mission to make table tennis one of the leading sports in the world."

Dainton added: "We are at a crucial moment as the sports industry is evolving after the pandemic hit us all.

"Having one of the most influential figures in table tennis that has been an athlete and a coach at the absolute highest level joining our Board now shows that WTT is ready to lead the whole table tennis community to new heights."