BEIJING, July 23 -- China's annual national summer camp for youth football is now underway, according to the country's Ministry of Education on Tuesday.

Over 8,000 students, 2,000 coaches and 200 experts from home and abroad will take part in the 2-month summer camp, which kicked off on July 14, the ministry said at a press conference.

Divided into 13 divisions spanning from the 4th grade to the 12th grade, the participants consist of the best squads in the respective divisions of different provinces and are further distributed to 24 branch camps, according to Wang Dengfeng, head of the ministry's Department of Physical, Health and Arts Education.

The national best squads of the 13 divisions will be selected after the competition phase of the summer camp, said Wang, who believes the summer camp boasts the highest level of football competition in the country.