Chinese women's team beat DPR Korea 3-0 here on Saturday to set up a semifinal clash against Singapore at the World Table Tennis Team Championships.

China played their second match against DPR Korea in four days and finished both at 3-0. Li Xiaoxia beat Ri Mi-Gyong 11-6, 11-3 and 11-8 to open the match for the defending champion and Liu Shiwen made it 2-0 for China after defeating Ri Myong-Sun 11-8, 11-4 and 11-6.

Though Zhu Yuling lost Kim Jong 5-11 in the second game of the third match, the rookie still managed to beat her opponent in four games (11-5, 5-11, 11-5 and 11-6), which secured a berth in the top four for China.

China's semifinal opponent will be Singapore, who beat them in the final in the Moscow worlds in 2010. Singapore beat Romania 3-0 in a previous quarterfinal.

The other semifinal will be played between Hong Kong, China and Japan. Hong Kong, China overwhelmed Germany by 3-0 while Japan edged past the Netherlands by 3-2.

Saturday's matches also saw Chinese Taipei and Germany reach semifinals in men's event.

Chinese Taipei came from behind to edge out South Korea at 3-2. The South Koreans made a flying start as Joo Sae-Hyuk overcame Chen Chien-An in a close five-game battle. But Chinese Taipei responded as Chuang Chih-Yuan beat Jung Young-Sik 3-1.

Then Cho Eon-Rae beat Chiang Hung-Chieh in four games to fire South Korea to the leading position. Chuang Chih-Yuan then levelled the score by beating Joo Sae-Hyuk 3-2, which paved the way for Chen Chien-An to seal the victory.

Germany beat Singapore to set a Sunday semifinal against host Japan while Chinese Taipei will meet defending champion China.