KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 -- China, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand have expressed interest in bidding for hosting the football Asian Cup to be held in 2023, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said here on Tuesday.

During the meeting held in the Malaysian capital, the AFC Competitions Committee announced that the AFC had received expressions of interest from China, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand by the deadline of March 31, 2016 to host the AFC Asian Cup in 2023.

"The AFC will now send out the Bidding Agreement and the Host Candidate Questionnaire and seek government guarantees and legal opinion on the bids," it said.

China entered the final when the country hosted the Asian Cup in 2004, but lost to Japan 3-1.