CHANGCHUN, Northeast China, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The 6th Asian Winter Games, slated for Jan. 28 to Feb. 4 in Changchun, northeast China, has registered record numbers of athletes and participating teams, said the organizers here on Wednesday.

    A total of 816 athletes from 26 countries and regions of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have officially registered for the Games to make it the biggest ever Winter sports meet in the continent, according to the local organizing committee.

    Nine more countries and regions will take part in the upcoming Games, compared to the last edition in Aomori, Japan.

    Hosts China will dispatch a 200-plus delegation to stand atop in terms of the number of athletes, followed by Japan, South Korea and Kazakhstan who will play hosts to the next Games.

    The Chinese athletes will participate in all the 47 events, including Olympic champion Wang Meng, Fu Tianyu and Li Ye for short track speedskating, Wang Fei for speedskating, twice world champions Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo, 2006 world champions Pang Qing/Tong Jian for figure skating, Han Xiaona, Li Nina for freestyle skiing, and Wang Chunli and Li Geliang for cross countryskiing.

    Japan will take part in all the events except women's freestyleskiing aerials, and South Korea will compete in all but the freestyle skiing.

    The Games will also feature athletes from Chinese Hong Kong, Chinese Macao, as well as Chinese Taipei.

    Pakistan will send only one athlete for the Games.

    Ice hockey is the most popular sport with 348 athletes, including a record of 11 men's teams, competing for the medals while ski racing is also a hot bonanza with the most delegations of 18 in the field.