Two Chinese athletes have tested positive for banned drugs during the ongoing 6th Chinese City Games, organizers announced in Wuhan, Hubei Province, on Saturday in a statement.

Wushu (martial art) player Zhao Jie of Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, and cyclist Xu Xiang from Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, failed the doping tests conducted during the City Games.

"Among the 1,239 tests, two examples turned out to be positive, "said the spokesman Jiang Zhixue at the news conference.

"The athletes were suspected to use stimulants and anabolic agents by the A example and we're following the procedure.

"We have notified the teams and the related sports associations and we'll see whether to have B example tested or not after the hearing," said Jiang.

Zhao won the title of all-around apparatus of knife and stick and Xu competed in the men's team pursuit event qualifying round.

"Their results have both been stripped of and the Shijiazhuang and Yinchuan teams have lost the qualification to run for the Fair Play Award," the statement said.

"The Chinese Cycling Association and the Chinese Wushu Association will investigate the two cases," the statement said.

China's anti-doping fight came into a new era with the birth of the Anti-doping Regulation three years ago.

Less than three hundred days ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games, China's sports officials deemed anti-doping fight as top priority at the Chinese City Games, a national multi-sport junior event to be closed on Saturday night.

"We enhanced the anti-doping work this time and we think the results are acceptable. However, it's a complicated problem and we know it's still a long way to go," said Jiang.

The image of Chinese sports was tainted in the 1990s following the involvement of several high-profile athletes, notable swimmers.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2007)