In accordance with the requirements of the Anti-Doping Development Plan (2018-2022), China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) participates in international Dried Blood Spot (DBS) Project and continuously promotes the pilot DBS program in China which has achieved positive results.

CHINADA established a domestic DBS group which is led by CHINADA Executive Director General, consisted by Operation and Management Department, Testing Department, Beijing National Anti-Doping Laboratory, Logistical Support Department and Food and Drug Analysis Laboratory, with the secretariat located in Operation and Management Department. The domestic DBS group aims to fully integrate CHINADA’s internal resources and cooperate with Beijing National Anti-Doping Laboratory to ensure that the DBS method be conducted in China before the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Currently, the domestic DBS group has held several meetings, focusing on DBS research, testing and analyzing in both China and overseas, international DBS Project, responsibilities of domestic DBS group members, sample collection and analysis equipment and domestic pilot program plan. After more than 6 months of comparison on sample collection equipment and discussion on the pilot program plan, the domestic DBS project has officially entered the pilot phase after research phase in July 2020.

International DBS Project was officially launched in March 2019, and co-founded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Testing Agency (ITA), the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and CHINADA. It is expected that DBS method will be piloted on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and implemented in routine doping control for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The Project office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is consisted of a steering committee, two working groups (Collection & Transport Working Group and Analysis & Storage Working Group) and an ad-hoc advisor group. Mr. Chen Zhiyu, Executive Director General of CHINADA is a member of steering committee. Ms. Yan Qingping, Deputy Director of Operation and Management Department is the chair of Collection & Transport Working Group. Mr. Yang Sheng from Beijing National Anti-Doping Laboratory is a member of Analysis & Storage Working Group. Mr. Zhang Lisi, Deputy Director of Beijing National Anti-Doping Laboratory serves as an ad-hoc advisor.

Dried Blood Spot, a kind of method to collect blood samples, is used for disease screening, detection and research by storing a small amount of blood on filter paper. It allows fast, simple and cost-effective collection of samples that can be easily and cheaply transported and stored. It’s athlete-friendly and has no gender restrictions for sample collection personnel. The application of DBS in anti-doping will become a revolutionary change from “selective testing” to “general testing”, from “waiting testing” to “no waiting testing” which will certainly reduce the time of sample collection process.

 “DBS method could very well revolutionise the anti-doping fight.” President of the IOC, Mr. Thomas Bach said, “Reflecting the spirit of all stakeholders joining forces, this is very much a collaborative project between WADA, the IOC, the International Testing Agency, as well as several National Anti-Doping Organizations, including the United States, China, Japan, Switzerland and Australia.”

Mr. Chen Zhiyu, Executive Director General of CHINADA, said, “China has the largest number of athletes in the world. As a revolutionary breakthrough, DBS will surely improve testing coverage, effectiveness and deterrence in a more convenient and cheaper way.”

DBS Project is the first innovative anti-doping project that China has been participating in full-scale. It will give strong support to protect clean sports in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.