China Cup will help measure progress

With a slim chance of punching a ticket to the 2018 World Cup, China is ramping up efforts to hone its national team's skills against high-level opposition.

The latest initiative is the GREE China Cup, which will debut next month in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The tournament will showcase China against Iceland, Chile and Croatia - and hopefully provide a gauge of how the national team stacks up against some of the best in the world.