Chinese athletes flexed their collective muscles again, setting one world, 16 Asian and 30 national records at the 11th National Games, which ended in Shandong province last night.

The outstanding results at the country`s biggest sports gala have provided a confidence boost and China is now looking optimistically towards the 2012 London Olympics.

"This National Games is one of only two multi-sports events for us before the London Games, so it is very important to our Olympic preparation," Xiao Tian, deputy director of the State General Administration of Sport, the governing body of China`s sports, said yesterday.

"Some good results have boosted our confidence, especially Liu Zige in swimming and Li Yanxi in track and field. There are also some youngsters emerging in traditionally strong events such as badminton, table tennis, weightlifting and shooting," he said.

China`s Olympic champion Liu set a world record of 2:01:81 in the women`s 200m butterfly final at the Games, knocking about a second and a half off the previous mark set by Australian Jessicah Schipper at the Rome World Championships in August.

In the men`s triple jump, Li, of Hebei, jumped 17.59m, smashing the Asian record of 17.35 and also refreshing the longest standing Chinese track and field record which was set in 1981 by Zou Zhenxian.

On the weightlifting stage, 10 women`s world records were beaten, including three apiece in the 48kg, 53kg and 63kg divisions and a snatch world record in the over 75kg division. On the men`s side, two world marks were bettered. Promisingly, most of the men`s top performers are in their early 20s.