Beijing will host 2006 Asian Women's Ice Hockey Tournament from March 24-29, announced China Ice Hockey Association (CIHA) on Tuesday.

Fan Guozhu, general secretary of CIHA, said that Japan, DPR Korea, South Korea, Kazakhstan and China will take part in the invitational tournament.

China now ranked No.6 in the world but Fan said it is a hard task for China to win the invitational.

"Six veterans have left the Chinese women's team last year after the 2005 World Championship," said Fan, "The China team now is a young team and lacks experience."

"There will be no world championships in the Olympic year and that's why we will hold an ice hockey tournament in China.

"We want our players to learn more even though there is no large-scale competitions," said Fan.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 22, 2006)