China is stepping up dope testing and specifically targeting elite athletes in a bid to ensure a scandal-free Beijing Olympics next year, reported the AP citing state media on Wednesday.

Zhao Jian, office head of the Anti-Doping Commission of the Chinese Olympic Committee, told the official Xinhua news agency that a zero-tolerance doping policy was in force in China.

"We want our athletes to play a fair and clean game. Our aim is to ensure that no one in the Chinese delegation uses performance-enhancing substances," he was quoted as saying.

He said the number of dope tests stood at 9,000 last year -- up from 8,700 the previous year -- and would likely rise to 10,000 next year.

Most were random, out-of-competition tests and were especially targeting a pool of elite athletes most likely to win medals at next year's Games.

"We follow all athletes' whereabouts and a pool of 2,000 athletes are especially closely watched," he said.

These included athletes in sports where doping has been a chronic problem such as weightlifting, swimming, track and field, wrestling, cycling and rowing, he said.

"We won't hesitate in cracking down on drug cheats among Chinese athletes," he said.

"What we want most is a clean Games next year, where athletes from all over the world
feel that they are competing fair and square."

Beijing is building a new doping control centre where some 4,200 tests will be conducted during next year's August 8-24 Games, 20 percent more than at the last summer games in Athens in 2004.

After a series of drug busts in the 1990s, China's reputation as a country committed to fighting doping in sport has improved in recent years despite some embarrassing setbacks.

These included the revelation last August that students at a sports school in northern Liaoning province were injected with drugs including testosterone, a growth hormone often used to build muscle strength, and EPO, a blood doping agent used in endurance sports.