An international yoga conference to be attended by Chinese and Indian practitioners will be held later this month in Kunming City in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities said Thursday.

According to the Kunming city government, the conference, lasting from May 18 to 22, will feature courses from yoga masters, introducing yoga practice to communities, and a group yoga session for 1,000 people.

The conference is sponsored by the municipal government and jointly organized by foreign affairs and overseas Chinese affairs offices under the municipal government and the China-India Yoga College.

Yoga has been gaining popularity in China in recent years. The country's first yoga college, China-India Yoga College based at Yunnan Minzu (Nationalities) University, opened last November.

Over 4,000 people have participated in free yoga sessions offered by the college so far, college authorities said.