Chinese Vice Premier to attend World Cup opening ceremony in Russia

BEIJING, June 5. /TASS/. Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the president’s Special Envoy Sun Chunlan will attend an opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in Russia, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters on Tuesday. "Special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Vice Premier of the State Council Sun Chunlan will pay a visit to Russia on June 12-15 to take part in the opening ceremony of the World Cup," the diplomat said. Sun Chunlan was appointed to the post after the March session of the National People's Congress (China’s legislature). The FIFA World Cup, the first-ever hosted by Russia, will be held between June 14 and July 15, 2018, in 11 Russian cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Sochi and Rostov-on-Don. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay will make up Group A, while Group B will include Portugal, Spain, Iran and Morocco. Group C is going to consist of France, Australia, Peru and Denmark, while Group D will be Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria. Group E will be composed of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia. Group F has Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea, while Group G will encompass Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England. Finally, Group H has Poland, Colombia, Senegal and Japan. Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium will host the opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia. The World Cup’s final match will take place at the very same venue on July 15. Read more