Choue was speaking at a press conference in Beijing, where it was confirmed that the first edition of the eight-tournament series will be held from the end of this year to early 2018.

The South Korean was joined by World Taekwondo director general Jin-bang Yang, while China’s two Rio 2016 Olympic gold-medal winning taekwondo players - Zhao Shuai and Zheng Shuyin - were also in attendance along with top officials from the Chinese Olympic Committee and the city of Wuxi.

"We are very excited to announce the Grand Slam Series and we hope more media exposure than they have ever had before," Choue said.

In close consultation with World Taekwondo, the Wuxi Organising Committee has created a purpose-built taekwondo venue for the series.

The purpose of the series is to professionalise and upgrade taekwondo's commercial appeal and media profile. 

Each year, it will consist of eight separate tournaments to represent each Olympic taekwondo weight category - four men's and four women's.

The total prize money offered in each of the eight separate tournaments in the 2017-2018 series will be $800,000 (£614,000/€686,000).

The winner in each weight category will take home $70,000 (£54,000/€60,000).

The silver and bronze medalists will be awarded $20,000 (£15,000/€17,000) and $10,000 (£8,000/€9,000) respectively. 

The series is invitational and will bring together 12 premier athletes in each weight category.

For the 2017-2018 Grand Slam, the invited athletes in each weight category will include the Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist and two gold medallists from the 2017 World Championships in Muju in South Korea. 

The World Championships feature twice as many weight categories as the Olympics.

The first edition will also welcome the champion of the Grand Prix Final in December 2017, the three winners of the Grand Prix Series held earlier in 2017 as well as the winner of the 2016 Grand Prix Final.

Should any of the above overlap, for example if the same player wins in more than one Grand Prix event, or should any player drop out, the top eight will be rounded out with the next players in the World Taekwondo Olympic rankings.

In addition, the host country will receive one wildcard.

The last three athletes in each weight category will be selected in a pre-Grand Slam qualification tournament.

These last three athletes could come from other combat sport disciplines such as wushu or International Taekwondo Federation taekwondo, or any other styles.

In the qualification tournament and in the Grand Slam series, they will have to fight under World Taekwondo rules.

The series was unveiled and approved by the World Taekwondo Council in Muju last month.

It came prior to the 2017 World Championships.