By CGTN's Yan Yangchen

China bagged a silver medal in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay at the FINA World Championships in Budapest on Thursday, while the US claimed the gold.

The Chinese were in close contention throughout the race, with Li Bingjie taking the lead after 650 meters.

But Katie Ledecky from team USA caught the 15-year-old from behind, and rallied the Americans to victory in 7 minutes and 43.39 seconds. Li's split of 1 minute and 55.46 seconds, was the fastest time for her team, but still nearly a second and a half behind Ledecky's. Australia took the bronze.

Fu Yuanhui finished second in the women’s 50m backstroke. /CFP Photo

Meanwhile, China's Fu Yuanhui was chasing her second straight gold in the women's 50m backstroke event. But the Chinese swimmer ran out of luck, as she saw Brazil's Etiene Medeiros touch in at 27.14 seconds. Fu was just a mere 0.01 seconds off the Brazilian, and settled for the silver medal. Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus finished third.

Xu Jiayu competed in the men’s 200m backstroke. The 100m champ established a solid lead after the first 50 meters, and continued to build on that.

He was nearly a full body length ahead of the man in second, Russia's Evgeny Rylov, with Ryan Murphy of the US making a late push. Xu maintained a steady rhythm as he tried to hold off both challengers, and even though he slowed down at the end, the 21-year-old won the event in 1:54.79. Murphy came in second while Rylov finished third.