A system similar to that from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will be used for the tournament.

Scheduled to be held from September 30 to October 9, it is the first major sporting event to be held in China since the Winter Games.

With more that 1,000 athletes set to participate, the world table tennis governing body organised an information session for all participants.

Steve Dainton, ITTF Group chief executive CEO, He Xiao, deputy secretary general of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, Xian Rongsheng, Vice Mayor of Chengdu and executive director of the Organising Committee, and Matt Pound, World Table Tennis managing director were among the attendees for the session.

"I want to thank the Chinese Table Tennis Association, the Local Organising Committee, and the City of Chengdu for making this event happen," Dainton said.

"I also want to thank the Member Associations and participants for their patience, understanding and support.

"We understand the preparation and the logistics towards this event are like no other."

"Our priority is to provide all necessary information to the participants to ensure they have an enjoyable and memorable World Championships experience.

"We will need the cooperation of everyone involved, so it was important to take the time today to explain our plans, answer all questions, and get everybody on board.

"We also wanted to reassure everyone following the tightening of COVID-19 countermeasures in Chengdu; preparation for the event continues as planned without delay.

"I will travel to Chengdu in two days to ensure seamless cooperation until the end of the countdown.

"The situation is similar to #RESTART, the series of events we hosted in China in November 2020.

"This time again, there is concern but, ultimately, we will deliver our World Championships in Chengdu."

Chartered flights have been arranged by the ITTF which will help participants to leave and enter Chengdu without having to quarantine.

Dedicated transport has been arranged which will connect the athletes between the venue and the official hotels.

Additionally, the athletes will be allowed to relax in parks adjacent to the hotels.

The lockdown in Chengdu, with a population of 21 million, is the most severe since that in Shanghai during the summer, prompting rare protests in person and online.

Yesterday, a major earthquake struck the city with 65 people reported dead.

COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in 103 cities, which is the highest since 2020.

On Tuesday, 1,499 new cases of the local infection were reported in the country, with Sichuan accounting for 138.

China’s zero-tolerance COVID-19 policy is among the toughest still in place around the world.

Plenty of sports events in China have been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Recently, the Nanjing 2023 World Athletics Indoor Championships was postponed to 2025.

The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games and Asian Para Games was also postponed by a year.

Meanwhile, the Badminton World Federation cancelled its World Tour events in Hong Kong and Macau for the third consecutive year.