ASHGABAT (AFP) - The Chinese city of Hangzhou was on Wednesday awarded the 2022 Asian Games, the organisers said, as Beijing seeks more international sporting events on its soil.

Hangzhou in eastern China - best known for West Lake, a placid and much-painted tourist attraction - was the only candidate city, making it a shoo-in for selection by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) at its congress in the Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat.

An OCA spokesman confirmed the decision, saying the body, the Chinese Olympic Committee and Hangzhou had already signed the hosting agreement at the meeting.

The award comes shortly after Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, having hosted the Summer Games in 2008, and means China will host two major multi-sport events in the same year.

It will be the third time a Chinese city has hosted the Asian Games following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.

The Asian Games follows the sports programme of the Olympics, with swimming and athletics as the core sports.

South Korea's Incheon held the last Asian Games in 2014, while Indonesia's Jakarta will play host in 2018.