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China, which has pledged to host a drug-free Olympics in August, conducted more doping tests than ever before in 2007 while recording its lowest rate of positives, state media reported on Monday.

Sports Minister Liu Peng was quoted as saying that only 15 positive cases were found from 10 238 tests conducted throughout 2007.

"The positive rate is less than 0.2 percent, which stands as a new low since China started to conduct doping tests," Liu told the official Xinhua news agency.

"We always take the zero-tolerance stand towards doping cheats and will try our best to make sure that we send a clean Chinese squad to the Beijing Olympic Games."

However, Jiang Zhixue, head of the sports ministry's science and education department which runs doping control, said that top level weightlifters among others had found "loopholes" in China's doping control system.

"Seven positive cases were found in weightlifting, accounting for almost half of the total last year," said Jiang. "A couple of national team members were caught."

"This awoke us to the fact that there are certain loopholes in national teams' management although we are making headway in doping control," he said.

Liu said that the national anti-doping centre tested 8,856 Chinese athletes and 1382 foreigners during the year. It was unclear what proportion of positive tests were from Chinese athletes.

China started doping tests in 1990 when 165 tests were carried out.

AFP