The Chinese national women's ice hockey team will go training in Canada to warm up for the upcoming world championship due to be held in April in Harbin, China.

China coach Zhang Zhinan said Thursday that his team will leave for Canada after the 11th National Winter Games, which will officially open on Friday and end on Jan. 28.

The national team had trained in Canada for more than a month last October, and played almost 30 matches with many strong teams there.

"The result of training abroad is quite good," said Zhang. "There are not enough professional teams in China, so it's quite necessary for the national team to play games abroad."

The Chinese women's team finished sixth in the last World Championship.

"We were very lucky last time," said Zhang. "Because the opponents in our group were not very strong. But this time, the opponets in our group are Russia and Canada, and they are both on very high level."

"The Harbin worlds is also an Olympic trial, so we will try our best to prepare," added Zhang.