China steps up anti-doping effort with stricter punishments

BEIJING -- The Chinese government is expected to deal out harsher punishments on doping offenses by preventing cheaters from joining the national teams.

The State General Administration of Sport is soliciting public opinions on the new version of the Anti-doping Management Regulation of China, which replaced China's earliest anti-doping rules Strictly Prohibiting Doping in Sport in 2015.

In the new version, the regulation would prevent athletes banned for over a year for doping from joining the national teams while in the former version, athletes could be allowed back to the national squads four years after serving out their bans.

"Athletes banned under a year need to be reviewed prudently before they are selected by the national teams," the Regulation said.

In addition, an athlete's offense could lead to the disqualification of his or her team in national-level tournaments, including the National Games, according to the Regulation.

The opinion solicitation will last until April 21 on the official website of the Ministry of Justice.