Without Liu, the decline of Team China, underlined by a gold-less effort by the men's squad at the 2017 World Cup, stirred hot debate.

The CTTA's general election for new leadership is a result of former chairman Cai Zhenhua's departure from the sports sector earlier this month to reportedly join the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

Under China's traditional State-run sports system, the the nation's sports ministry (GASC) assigned government officials to run various associations, even though some appointees had no related background in their assigned fields.

Since Gou Zhongwen took office as Sports Minister in 2016, several significant management reforms have been initiated, including Yao Ming's stewardship of the Chinese Basketball Association, the appointment of Olympic champion coach Lang Ping as vice president of the Chinese Volleyball Association, and short-track speed skating national coach Li Yan's role as chairwoman of the Chinese Skating Association.