Mainland sports officials say the Chinese martial art of wushu has a long way to go before it can become an Olympic sport, despite getting approval in principle to hold a competition on the sidelines of the 2008 Games.
Wushu was last seen at the Olympics in 1936 when a small Chinese team performed during the Berlin Olympics.
International Wushu Federation (IWF) secretary-general Wang Xiaolin said wushu was known to many people around the world but had yet to become as popular as Japan's judo and Korea's taekwondo.
He said China would continue to push for wushu to become an Olympic sport and they had much to learn from Japan and South Korea in promoting the martial art to International Olympic Committee members and the world. Japan successfully pushed for judo's inclusion at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, while South Korea's taekwondo made it to the Olympics 12 years after the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Wang said wushu also lagged behind in terms of appeal and tournament administration. 'Not to mention the [limited] live coverage of wushu competitions on television,' he said.
IOC president Jacques Rogge told Chinese media during the 10th National Games last year the IOC had agreed in principle to allow the Beijing Organising Committee to hold a wushu tournament on the sidelines of the 2008 Games.
The one-off event is believed to be a trade-off with the hosts. The IOC has tried to streamline the summer Olympics and freeze the number of sports but Chinese sporting authorities say the agreement is a hard-fought win for the Chinese martial art.