China will have an opportunity to compete at VALORANT Champions for the first time in VALORANT Champions Tour history.
Previously China had not been able to participate during VCT but will now have the option to make it to Champions through the East Asia qualifiers. At the end of each year, the teams that did not make Champions from each region have the chance to qualify through their respective Last Chance Qualifiers. These qualifiers allow one team from each region to make it to Champions alongside their fellow regional teams.
This year, the top three teams from the South Korea and Japan regions will compete alongside the top two teams from China for a spot at Champions.
Unlike the South Korea and Japan regions, the teams from China will be competing through a third-party tournament and not the VCT. These tournaments are not sponsored by Riot Games but will still make two teams eligible for a spot at Champions.
But for a team from China to make it to Champions they would have to beat out the six other teams from the two other regions for the spot.
If both of the top teams from China fail to make it out of the Last Chance Qualifier then we will not see a Chinese team competing at Champions for the second year in a row. VALORANT has started the process of franchising in various regions but there is nothing confirmed if China will be included in franchising in the future.
Only time will tell if VALORANT will sponsor events in China for VCT.