At the 13th Anti-Doping Conference held by the Chinese Swimming Association here, Li Hua said the association conducted 922 tests on 456 Chinese swimmers in 2006 and none of the tests turned out to be positive.

"The number of the tests rose by 4.1 percent compared to last year and the number of the Chinese swimmers taking the tests accounts for 35.84 percent of the total registered," Li added.

Last year, the Chinese swimmers competed in the Asian championships, Shanghai world short course championships and Doha Asian Games. During the competitions, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the world swimming governing body FINA conducted 18 tests on 14 Chinese swimmers. Furthermore, 38 Chinese swimmers took the out-of-competition tests.

"So far, not a single positive test was found among the Chinese swimmers," Li Hua noted¹.

"Although we made great progress in anti-doping in recent years, which was internationally recognized, we must continue working hard as the Beijing Olympics is approaching," Li said.

According to Li, FINA conducted 1,883 doping tests, including 1,131 out-of-competition ones on 721 athletes from 41 countries and regions, in 2006. The 752 in-competition tests covered 567 athletes from 51 countries and regions. Among the tests, 10 were positive, which was much less than 21 for 2004 and 32 for 2005.

The Chinese national swimming championships will kick off here on Tuesday