WARSAW -- The preliminaries of the 18th Chopin International Piano Competition will be held between Sept 18 and 29 in Warsaw, and most of the competitors will represent China, the Fryderyk Chopin Institute announced on Monday.

The event, rescheduled from the second half of April, will be hosted by the Chamber Music Hall of the National Philharmonic in the Polish capital.

A total of 164 pianists from 33 countries are to take part in the preliminaries. China will be represented by 43 participants, followed by Japan (31), Poland (18) and the Republic of Korea (16).

The winners' concerts are scheduled for Oct 21-23.