BEIJING, Mar. 15 (xinhuanet) -- The six-strong Chinese gymnastics team, spearheaded by Olympic champion Teng Haibin, left Beijing on Wednesday for the Lyon World Cup event slated for March 17-18.

   Teng, who won China's sole Olympic gymnastics gold medal in Athens, will compete in three apparatus of pommel horse, horizontal bar and parallel bars.

   China also dispatched veterans Yang Wei and Huang Xu for their first major tournament under the 2006 new rules. The 18-year-old Zou Kai is the only new face in men's squad.

   The women's lineup features reigning vault world champion Cheng Fei, competing on vault and floor. She is joined by national champion Han Bin on balance beam and uneven bars.

   "The real competition kicks off now since the new rules have been formally implemented," China's team manager Zhang Peiwen said.

   "We send our top gymnasts because we hope to study how the new judging system works and understand the new rules better."

   Organisers are expecting over 170 gymnasts from 42 federations of the five continents. The event is one of the most popular gymnastics events prior to the European Championships in Volos of Greece in April and May.

   The United States, Romania, Japan, Russia, Italy, Brazil and Slovenia are among the top nations to compete. Enditem