China have twice won Olympic gold medals at Los Angeles 1984 and Athens 2004. Lang Ping’s second spell as team coach restored their status as an international volleyball powerhouse, as her new strategy paid off when she revamped the team and put her faith in young players. China took the silver medal at the 2014 World Championship after losing to the United States in the gold medal match in Milan. They showed a much stronger performance the following year, as they qualified to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games through the 2015 World Cup in Japan.
China have a very rich history in the sport and their players, especially their coach Lang Ping, have gained attention from the international volleyball community. Volleyball was the first sport at which China succeeded on a global scale and its cultural importance was never more evident than in the 1980s when it enjoyed huge popularity. In the last 30 years, China won the World Grand Prix in 2003, and also triumphed in the World Championship twice, the World Cup four times and the Grand Champions Cup once. In the World Grand Prix, China are one of the only two teams that have appeared in all editions of the tournament, and have finished as runners-up in 1993, 2001, 2002, 2007 and 2013, then placed third in the 1994, 1999 and 2005 editions.