"Of course, we will strive for the best results we can on the tour, but our focus will be locked on bringing the best out of ourselves at the Olympics."

Formerly known as the World Cup series, the revamped tour features a streamlined program with four individual events in each gender at each stop cut into three, and each ice-cleaning break between races significantly shortened to accommodate a new broadcasting timetable.

Following the opening two legs in Montreal and Salt Lake City, Utah (Nov 1-3), the tour resumes with two Asian stops in Beijing (Dec 6-8) and Seoul (Dec 13-15), followed by a holiday break before returning to action in Tilburg, the Netherlands (Feb 7-9).

The all-important season finale in Milan (Feb 14-16) will offer the world's best an invaluable first test at the rink that will host the Olympic races in one year's time.

After a solid summer training program and two domestic trials, Team China has announced a 12-strong roster for the new season, led by men's reigning 500m Olympic champion Liu Shaoang, men's 1,500m gold medalist Lin Xiaojun (Pyeongchang 2018), defending 1,500m world champion Sun Long and women's young stars Wang Ye and Gong Li.