China's sports leaders have set a target for the nation's team to win no less than 16 gold medals next year at Sydney to keep China's status as the nation with the fourth total highest number of Olympic gold medals, China Daily reports on November 29.

Wu Shaozu, director of State Sports General Administration (SSGA) in Beijing, announced the goal last Thursday at an Olympic Preparatory Conference. The meeting reflected the overall ambition of the Chinese Olympics 2000 delegation.

Wu also conceded that fulfilling the task would be "very difficult." He said at least six strong delegations, including Germany, France and host Australia, are fighting for third to sixth places in the race to rack up gold medals.

As to the two "super powers" - the United States and Russia, they seem untouchable by other gold medal hopefuls, with the former predicting to pocket 36 to 43 next year and the latter 35 to 39.

France has recently been making impressive progress in such Olympic events as track cycling and fencing.

Armed with the home field advantage and the support of local fans, Australia are set on surpassing France, China and even Germany to take third place in the total number of Olympic gold medals.

Australia is expected to take full advantage of their role as hosts. Wu said they intend to compete intensely against the Chinese delegation, whom Australia see as their top threat in many events.

Although up against serious challengers, China are still favoured to cause a stir in events such as table tennis, badminton, weightlifting, gymnastics and shooting, Yuan Weimin, deputy director of the SSGA, said at the meeting.

Until now, 200 athletes in 101 small events have qualified for Sydney Olympics 2000 after 32 qualifying tournaments in 17 sports.

Women's weightlifting and synchronized diving are two new Olympic events which are widely regarded as among China's stronger areas.

But both Wu and Yuan were very cautious, saying blind optimism should be avoided since other rivals also attach the same importance to the two events and rapid progress has been achieved by other countries and regions.

Wu raised as an example the women's pole-vault and triple jump. In the 1996's Atlanta Olympics, the Chinese athletes were considered strong gold contenders but failed to win a medal of any colour after the two events were introduced to the Olympics.