The sports are football, handball, 3x3 basketball, volleyball, aquatics, athletics and coastal rowing.

It was decided they should be included following a meeting of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Sports Committee here in Jakarta, currently co-hosting the 2018 Asian Games with Palembang.

The final 22-sport programme will be decided in consultation and coordination with the OCA, Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) and the Organising Committee.

The Host City Contract for Sanya 2020 was signed yesterday at the OCA General Assembly in Indonesia's capital. 

Sanya officials promised the OCA that the pearl of the South China Sea is ready to shine when it hosts the sixth edition of the Asian Beach Games.

COC vice-president Yang Shu'an assured delegates from the 45 countries and regions that Sanya would deliver a successful event.

Sanya is the southern-most city on Hainan Island and, along with Hangzhou and Beijing, will form a trifecta of Chinese cities hosting major Games over the next four years.

Hangzhou is set to host the 19th Asian Games in 2022, while Beijing is scheduled to stage the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Boasting a heritage of several thousand years, Sanya is set to welcome more than 5,000 athletes from November 28 to December 5 in 2020.

The last Asian Beach Games was held in Danang in Vietnam in 2016.

A core city of the Hainan economic zone, Sanya has a population of 700,000.

Last year it welcomed 20 million visitors.

It has a proud record for hosting major sporting events in recent years, including the Volvo Ocean Race and the Clipper Round The World Race.