Rallying-China returns to world championship in 2016

LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - China will return to an expanded world rally championship calendar next year for the first time since 1999, series promoters said on Tuesday. The all-asphalt event will be the 10th of 14 rounds and take place on Sept. 9-11 with a base in the Huairou district 70km from central Beijing. Huairou also hosted the rally in 1999. The season will open in Monaco in January and end in Australia in November. "China is the biggest car market globally and by taking the WRC there, we offer manufacturers the opportunity to showcase their products via a championship focused on production-based vehicles," said WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla in a statement. "Its return was unanimously supported by our participating manufacturers." Volkswagen, currently gripped by a major scandal over the rigging of emissions tests, are the rally world champions. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)