(BEIJING, August 1) --　A total of 448 Chinese athletes have been qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games, and the final number is expected to be 550 to 570, according to Cui Dalin, vice-minister of the General Administration of Sport and vice-chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee.

Some 1,500 Chinese athletes are under active training for the Olympics. They belong to 28 sports and 55 national teams, he told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday

Looking at the prospects for the next Olympics, Cui said China faces a challenging situation and strives to lead the second group of gold medalists.

China ranked second to the United States in the list of gold medalists in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Some foreign media are speculating that China, host of the 2008 Games, may vie for the first place this time, Cui said.

However, he stressed, China is expected to remain in the second group, while the USA and Russia will be in the first group.

Cui gave several reasons for his sober assessment: first, there is a big gap between China and its competitors in terms of general power balance; second, despite its good performance in Athens in these sports, China faces serious challenges in athletics, swimming, table tennis, badminton, shooting, weightlifting; third, China is weak in athletics, swimming and water sports; fourth, although the Chinese have some good sportsmen in boxing, rowing and wrestling, their performances are unstable; fifth, China legs far behind in ball game group competitions; sixth, the high tension due to the presence of the Chinese public may bring about more negative factors; seventh, the changes in the competition rules for 17 sports have cut the number of events in favor of China. Finally, some changes in the events of diving, weightlifting and other sports have brought disadvantages for China.

Cui further reviewed the Olympic events' scoring in the world championships over the past two years. In 2005, the USA grabbed 94 medals, including 42 golds, Russia 85 and 34 respectively, while China obtained only 69 and 28 respectively. In 2006, the USA chalked a total of 106 medals; Russia 83 and China 79.