China gears up for Women's Basketball World Cup in Europe

BEIJING - China's national women's basketball team has departed for Europe to prepare for the FIBA World Cup.

The Chinese team is scheduled to play warmup matches against the national teams of France, Belgium and Serbia, as well as local clubs in Spain.

China will head to Australia in early September and continue its warmup series with local clubs and other World Cup teams.

The quadrennial FIBA Women's World Cup will feature the world's top 12 women's national teams, with 38 games to be played across 10 days from September 22 - October 1 in Sydney, Australia.

China has been drawn in Group A with Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Puerto Rico, South Korea and defending champion the United States.