The competition took place over four days from 3–6 June at Thống Nhất Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Two championship records were broken, both by Japanese: Junya Sado won the men's javelin throw in 77.97 m (255 ft 9+1⁄2 in) and Chika Mukai took the 3000 m steeplechase in 10:21.04 minutes.

Japan's Haruko Ishizuka took 400 m bronze after winning the hurdles gold and her compatriots Shinichi Yukinaga and Nanaka Kori also took minor medals in the discus after becoming shot put winners.

Several of Asia's medallists at that competition were not present at the regional meet, although Qatar's Mohamed Ibrahim Moaaz became a double discus throw champion and India's Neeraj Chopra improved from a silver in Ho Chi Minh to a world under-20 gold with a world junior record throw.

The 2016 world under-20 high jump bronze medallist Mohamat Allamine Hamdi managed only sixth on the Asian stage that year.