Guangzhou:
China will aim to exceed its crushingly dominant performance at the 2006 Asian Games, as the host nation flexes its muscles at the Guangzhou Asiad, a team official said Wednesday.
As the dominant sports power in Asia, China hopes to use the Asian Games to help turn its younger athletes into world champions and cement the nation's place among the global sports elite, Xiao Tian, deputy delegation head said.
"In the last several Asian Games, as far as the gold medals and the total medals, we were number one," Xiao told reporters.
"In terms of these Asian Games ... we will do our best to exceed what we achieved last time."
China's team of more than 1,400 athletes and officials -- its largest sporting delegation ever -- will participate in all 42 sports on offer except for kabbadi at the November 12-27 Games, Xiao said.
The squad will boast 34 Olympic champions as it vies to win the lions' share of the 476 gold medals up for grabs.
At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, China topped the table for the seventh straight time with 165 gold, while grabbing 316 medals overall compared to second place Japan with a 198 total and third place South Korea with 193.
In Guangzhou, China will look to dominate table tennis, gymnastics, diving, badminton, weightlifting, shooting and track and field, while fielding competitive athletes in a bevy of other sports.
Preparing athletes for the 2012 London Olympics remains a top priority for China, said Xiao who refused to announce who the team's flag bearer will be at Friday's opening ceremony.
State media has insisted that former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, swimmer Zhang Lin or badminton ace Lin Dan are among the front runners.
"Right now we have one nominee, but we have not made the final decision," Xiao said.
The flag bearer "must have outstanding performances in the past and have a certain influence over society."
Xiao discounted the possibility of glory for the host nation in the major sports of football, basketball and volleyball where the national teams are in decline or have failed to shine in recent international competition.
"We will try our best in football, basketball and volleyball at these Asian Games, but we will encounter some difficulties," Xiao said.
"As long as our athletes do their best, we will be happy with their results."
China's national football team is seeking to rebound from a shocking corruption scandal that has led to the arrests of two former Chinese Football Association heads and a host of lower level officials all on bribe-taking and match fixing charges.
The national basketball and volleyball teams have also failed to shine, leading to criticism in the state press that China is incapable of competing with the best in major and commercially viable sports.