Shenyang (China), Sep 6 (IANS): No athletes have tested positive for drugs halfway through the Chinese National Games.

"Over 1,400 tests have been conducted since the opening of the National Games," Zhao Jian, deputy director of the Chinese Olympic Committee's Anti-Doping centre, told Xinhua Friday.

"So far, the Games are free of doping violations."

The organisers of the 12th National Games plan to conduct 2,575 drug tests, including 2,300 urine tests and 275 blood tests, during the Aug 31-Sep 12 meet. For the first time, the biological passport program is being introduced to the quadrennial event in the country's intensified efforts to weed out doping cheats.

A total of 20 positive cases have been registered by Aug 26 this year, a considerable rise from the 14 drug cheats caught in 2012, sports minister Liu Peng said at a meeting on the eve of the National Games, which attracted more than 9,000 athletes from 38 teams competing in 350 events in 31 sports.