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The 10th Chinese National Games Conclude in Nanjing

The 10th Chinese National Games, a rehearsal of the 2008 Olympic Games, closed on October 23 after 12 day's competition.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao declared the closing of the Games in the Olympic Sports Complex in Nanjing, the capital city of South China’s Jiangsu Province, one of China's fastest developing regions.

With less than three years remaining before the Beijing Olympic Games, the quadrennial sports meet, billed as China's mini-Olympics, was widely regarded as a rehearsal for the Beijing Olympics.

Host Jiangsu Province topped the medal standings with 56 golds, Guangdong was second with 46 and the Chinese Army was third with 44. Beijing ranked the fifth with 32. Of special note, Ren Liping's goal in the second half gave Beijing a 1-0 victory over Liaoning in the women's soccer final at the 10th Chinese National Games on October 22. And this is the second gold medal for Beijing’s women soccer after 18 years.

Six world records have been broken in the Games and another six were equalled. Five Asian records were rewritten and another five levelled.

The 10th Games, the largest ever in the history and the first that the host was decided by bidding, attracted 9,986 athletes and featured 32 sports, including all 28 summer Olympic ones.

The showcase of the Games belonged to Shanghai's Olympic high hurdles champion Liu Xiang, the most striking sports figure in the country, who won China's first men's track-and-field Olympic gold last year in Athens. The 22-year-old clocked 13.10 seconds to retain his National Games title.

The Games, which ran from October 12 to 23, was held in 54 venues spread among 13 Jiangsu cities, one of China's fastest developing regions.

The 11th National Games are scheduled for 2009 in Shandong Province, East China.