China's aspirations to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in two decades have received a fresh boost as all qualifying games in Asia for the 2022 Qatar World Cup scheduled for October and November were postponed to 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"With the aim of protecting the health and safety of all participants, FIFA and the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) will continue to work together to closely monitor the situation in the region and to identify new dates for the respective qualifying matches," read a statement.

"Further details on the new dates for the next round of qualifying matches for the Fifa World Cup 2022 and Asian Cup 2023 will be announced in due course," it added.

China were left eight points behind group leaders Syria when the pandemic forced all games in March and June to be postponed. Eight group winners and the four best runners-up will advance into the continent's 12-team final qualifying stage for the World Cup.

According to the original timetable, which has already suffered repeated adjustment and delay, China would resume their qualifiers on October 8 when they host Maldives. And their final group stage clash with Syria was to be played on November 17.

The latest postponement means Li Tie's new-look side, which called up three naturalized players in Ai Kesen (Elkeson), Li Ke (Nico Yennaris) and Luo Guofu (Aloisio Goncalves) for the first time in history for their last training session in May, will be given more time and greater leeway to dissect tactical changes or even try out a whole new game-plan ahead of the crucial showdown in 2021.

It's worth noting that China's other naturalized reinforcements, including Gao Late (Ricardo Goulart), Fei Nanduo (Fernando Henrique) and Jiang Guangtai (Tyias Browning), are still awaiting FIFA's clearance on eligibility issues. 

The new schedule could make it possible for them to join Li Tie's squad at the latter stages of the campaign if everything goes well. It would offer a tantalizing prospect for a depleted Chinese team who desperately need to start up again with new impetus.

Meanwhile, the new calendar comes as a great relief to four Chinese Super League giants, who are set to play in the AFC Champions League later this year. 

The continent's elite club competition is expected to return first in West Asia on September 14 and in East Asia on October 16 at centralized venues, which put it in direct conflict with World Cup qualifiers' original schedule.

CSL champions Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai SIPG, Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua had prepared to lose some of their best players to the national team, but now the problem has been solved as there will be no more World Cup qualifiers played in Asia this year.