HANOI, June 15 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday sailed past South Korea 3-0 to clinch a semifinal berth at the Asian Women's U19 Volleyball Championship in Vietnam's northern Bac Ninh province.

Defending champions China defeated South Korea 25-16, 25-22, and 25-22.

In other quarter-final matches on the same day, Chinese Taipei beat hosts Vietnam 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 29-27 and 25-20), Thailand steamrolled Kazakhstan 3-0 (27-25, 25-16 and 25-13), and Japan downed Iran 3-0 (25-14, 25-15 and 25-6).

On Saturday, China will clash with Thailand, and Chinese Taipei with Japan.

At the 2018 Asian Women's U19 Volleyball Championship, which will wrap up on Sunday, China is in Group A along with Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. Group B consists of South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and India.

Group C includes China's two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, Australia and Iran; and Group D has Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.

At the previous championship in 2016 in Thailand, China finished first, followed by Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Asian Women's U19 Volleyball Championship is a biennial volleyball competition in Asia and Oceania contested by the U19 women's teams of the members of Asian Volleyball Confederation. It has been held since 1980.