Liu, Rio 2016 champion and two-time world champion, recently returned to competition after a two-year maternity leave and will be out to impress in a race that will also serve as the national trials for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha.

She has shown strong form in recent months, earning 20km victories in January and February before setting a world 50km record of 3hr 59min 15sec at the Chinese Race Walk Grand Prix in March.

Liu, who won at Taicang in 2012 and 2013, also set the 20km world record of 1:24:38 in La Coruna four years ago.

As defending world champion, Yang Jiayu does not need to fight for her place in Doha, so can take the race as another opportunity to fine-tune for the World Championships.

Yang was on course to break Liu’s 20km world record at the Chinese Race Walk Grand Prix in Huangshan two months ago, but she quit the race with only six kilometres to go.

Qieyang Shijie, ranked number one in the world, will be another Chinese woman to watch tomorrow.

The 28-year-old topped the Race Walking Challenge standings last year and remains unbeaten so far this season.

The 26-year-old Chen, who won the men’s 20km gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, has been off the radar since the Chinese National Games in September 2017.

He first competed in Taicang in 2011 and has taken part in five editions of the race, claiming the title four years ago.

Caio Bonfim is another former winner returning to Taicang.

The 28-year-old Brazilian 20km record-holder claimed 1:22:16 victory in 2017, four months before improving his lifetime best to 1:19:04 en-route to his third-place finish at the World Championships in London.

Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom is also a serious title contender.

With a personal best of 1:17:26, Japan’s Eiki Takahashi is the fastest entrant on paper.