A bird's-eye view of Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: xsfabu]

Registrations for the Hangzhou Asian Games competitions recently closed, with all 45 national Olympic committees from the Asian Olympic Council participating, local media outlets reported.

The number of registered athletes has surpassed an impressive 12,500, the most in the history of the Games. Among the delegations, China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, India, and Chinese Hong Kong each registered over 600 athletes.

The Games, scheduled to take place from Sept 23 to Oct 8 this year, will be hosted in the city of Hangzhou, along with co-host cities Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing, and Jinhua.

The international gathering will feature 40 major events, 61 sub-events, and a total of 483 competitions.

E-sports and breaking are being included as events this year for the first time. From the registration statistics, athletics has emerged as the most popular sport, with a total of 43 delegations signing up. Boxing, swimming, shooting, weightlifting, and e-sports have also garnered attention, with over 30 delegations registering for each of these 11 events. In terms of athlete numbers, football stands out as the sport with the highest number of participants. Additionally, athletics, swimming, and fencing each over 300 athlete registrations.

The inaugural Asian Games took place in New Delhi, India in 1951 and featured 489 athletes from 11 countries and regions. Prior to this year's event, the record number of athletes was set at the 18th Asian Games held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, in 2018, with a total of 11,300 participants.

The Hangzhou Asian Games Village awaits athletes, coaches and journalists to reside. [Photo/hangzhou.com.cn]