BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shooting team gathers in Beijing to prepare for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The team attended Wednesday's flag raising ceremony at the Shooting and Archery Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China.

The team had its winter training in Putian, Fujian Province last year. After that, the shooters, representing their local teams, participated in China's National Shooting Championship. They came back for training on April 2.

This morning the team, dressed in uniforms, held the national flag-raising ceremony and sang the national anthem. They also attended the awarding ceremony of the essay competition "Motherland in My Heart, My Olympic Dream".

The flag-raising ceremony and the awarding ceremony of the essay competition are important for the cultivation of the shooters' patriotism, according to Liang Chun, director of the Shooting and Archery Sports Management Center.

This stage of training involves 76 shooters. They are preparing for the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol Beijing 2019 in late April and ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol Munich 2019 in late May. In the previous two tournaments, the team had earned 14 berths in rifle and pistol for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol Beijing 2019 will take place from April 21-29, 2019 at the Beijing Shooting Range.