China will send 69 athletes to compete in the 20th Summer Deaflympic Games, to be held from January 5 through 16 in Melbourne, Australia. They will compete in athletics, badminton, basketball, swimming, table tennis and tennis.

The Chinese delegation, including 32 coaches and staff members, is leaving Beijing for Melbourne on Friday.

"We are mainly aiming to provide training opportunities for our athletes as many of them are debutants for the Deaflympics," said Jia Yong, chef de mission of the Chinese delegation, on Thursday.

Chinese athletes have competed in the 16th, 18th and 19th Deaflympics. Yue Xiaodong won China's first gold medal in men's long jump in the 18th Games in 1997.

According to the Melbourne Deaflympics website, some 3,650 athletes and officials from 75 countries have confirmed their participation in this year's Games.

The quadrennial Summer Deaflympics were first held in 1924 in Paris, France, with 145 athletes from nine European nations taking part. Some 2,405 athletes from 71 countries participated in the 2001 Games in Rome, Italy.

The Winter Deaflympics, introduced in 1949 in Seefeld, Austria, included 33 athletes from five nations. The 2003 15th Winter Games in Sundsvall, Sweden, hosted 253 athletes from 22 countries.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn December 31, 2004)