The quartet of Han Tianyu, Xu Hongzhi, Ren Ziwei and Wu Dajing won heat one in a time of 6 min 44.901sec at the Sportboulevard.

Runners-up The Netherlands and third-placed Russia occupied the same positions overall.

The Dutch foursome of Daan Breeuwsma, Sjinkie Knegt, Itzhak de Laat and Dennis Visser clocked a time of 6:45.406, while Russia’s Semen Elistratov, Vladimir Grigorev, Victor An and Denis Ayrapetyan finished in 6:45.897.

Nine nations will contest the semi-finals with five in heat one and four in heat two.

The women’s 3,000m relay quarter-finals also saw China qualify fastest with Han Yutong, Zang Yize, Fan Kexin and Zhou Yang winning heat three in 4:10.565.

Heat two winners South Korea - Choi Min Jeong, Kim A Lang, Kim Ye Jin and Lee Yu Bin - were the second quickest in 4:10.590, while runners-up Russia - Tatiana Borodulina, Ekaterina Efremenkova, Sofia Prosvirnova and Yulia Shishkina - were third overall in 4:11.255.

Eight nations will contest the semi-finals with four in each of the two heats.

In the men’s 1,000m heats, South Korea’s Seo Yi Ra posted the fastest time.

He won heat two in 1:25.560 with Russia’s Elistratov second in 1:25.649 and Japan’s Kazuki Yoshinaga third in 1:25.711.

Kim Do Kyoum, also of South Korea, was second quickest overall having won heat six in 1:25.567.

Elistratov’s time placed him third overall.

The women’s 1,000m heats saw Canada’s Valerie Maltais produce the strongest performance. 

She clocked a winning time of 1:30.510 in heat six with China’s Li Jinyu second in 1:30.605 and Russia’s Efremenkova third in 1:30.728.

Another Canadian, Kim Boutin, was second quickest overall having won heat three in 1:30.553.

Li’s time placed her third overall.

Action in Dordrecht is due to continue tomorrow.