Wheelchair fencer Sun Gang and wheelchair basketball player Huang Xiaolian were chosen to bear the flag for China at the opening ceremony of the fourth Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Sunday, Team China announced on Saturday.

Sun, 30, is from east China's Jiangsu Province. Having competed at the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016 and in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, as well as at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2018, he has won multiple gold medals in the events including the men's individual epee, team foil, individual foil and team epee.

"I didn't think I would be the flag-bearer for China at the opening ceremony," Sun told China Media Group (CMG). "I want to thank both the country and the China Disabled Persons Federation for their support and recognition of my performance in wheelchair fencing."

"As an athlete, I will never forget the experience of bearing the flag for my country at the opening ceremony of the Asian Para Games," he added.

Huang, 33, is from south China's Guangdong Province. She won the wheelchair basketball women's gold medal as a member of China at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta in 2018 and the event's silver medal at both the Summer Paralympics in Tokyo in 2021 and the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in 2023.

"It's such an honor and responsibility for me [to bear the flag for China at the Asian Para Games opening ceremony]," Huang told CMG. "I will, together [with] my teammates, work hard for the best record to repay Team China's recognition of the wheelchair basketball team."

This year's Asian Para Games will begin on October 22 and end on October 28. Some 3,800 athletes from 45 countries and regions will compete in 564 events across 22 sports in 19 venues. Seventeen of them were shared with the 19th Asian Games that ended on October 8 in Hangzhou.