The opening of the 2016 Rio Olympics. (Photo : Getty Images)
Though no official target has been released, Chinese media reported that the country is confident in raking 30 to 36 golds in the opened Rio Olympics, the Global Times reported.
China is predicted to be one of the top medal winners at the well-watched sports event, with continued dominance in shooting, badminton, table tennis and diving.
A total of 416 Chinese athletes are vying in the Rio Games, which is set to stage 210 events in 26 sports.
The stellar delegation of China includes Chinese athletic stars Lin Dan (five-time badminton world champion) and Sun Yang (distance swimmer record-holder).
China is known as an Olympics sports powerhouse, winning the 2008 Beijing Olympics with 51 gold medals and taking the second spot during the 2012 London Games with 38 golds.
The forecast from Chinese media agrees to the recent predictions released by Goldman Sachs, which stated that U.S. and China would win most gold medals while Britain would likely push Russia out among the top three.
The report said that U.S. would bring home 45 golds and China would snatch 36.
Analysts claim that the government's support to Olympics sports is not set to wane as China has added boosting its Olympics standing in its long-term goals.
Nonetheless, the country could see a shift into more professional sports including basketball and soccer.
"It's an inevitable trend. The numbers of those watching soccer and basketball are naturally larger than for table tennis, despite the country's extraordinary performance in the latter," Xiao Huanyu, Shanghai University of Sports' School of Sports and Humanities dean, told the Global Times.
"The government wishes to develop a healthy sports industry to alleviate some games' dependence on State funds. It is also eyeing to reform the 'whole nation' system, although it cannot give it up just yet," he added.
The "whole nation" system gets talented students enrolled at special academies funded by the State. These institutions will then prepare the children for international competitions.
Meanwhile, according to China's General Administration of Sports, it has received a budget of around 3.24 billion yuan for this year.
