China will introduce dope control to all national junior sports events from next year in an effort to curb the increasing use of banned substances among youngsters.

Wang Baoliang, a top official at the State Sports Administration of China, made the remarks at a national anti-doping conference on Wednesday in Hefei.

"More and more school students begin to use drugs in order to earn high marks in examinations such as the college entrance exam, " said Wang.

"It is a very dangerous tendency and we must take the issue seriously."

According to a survey conducted by the Beijing University of Sports Culture on about 4,500 middle school and college students in 14 Chinese cities, the percentage of positive cases is higher than that among professional athletes.

Wang said the State Sports Administration would combine education and punishment together in preventing the youth from drug cheats.

"Whoever uses banned drugs will receive due punishment," said Wang.

"But we will put more focus on letting young students know the harm of taking drugs," he added.

Source: Xinhua