International Table Tennis Federation's President Adam Sharara yesterday strongly denied an anti-China bias, saying all rule changes were introduced for the sake of the sport itself.
"It's normal to think this way. Any nation that dominates a sport would feel it affects them the most," said Sharara. "But actually, not only Chinese players, all top players will be affected by the changes," he added.
After years of China's dominance in the sport, the ITTF in recent years introduced specific measures many believe are intended to shackle the country's superiority.
Rule changes since the Sydney Olympics include a reduction from 21 point to 11 point in sets and using a bigger ball.
China's failure to land the men's singles title at the last world championships in Paris is seen by many as effects the rule alterations have had on the Chinese game.
Chinese officials fear dominance at the ongoing world championships in Shanghai could lead to more changes being enacted in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
"It is certainly great to sweep all five events of the World Championships, but now I wonder whether the ITTF will take some more measures to cripple China's players if we clinch all titles," said Cai Zhenhua, director of the Chinese Administration Center of Table Tennis and Badminton.
Sharara played down China's concerns.
"We will concentrate on presenting the sport better," the 52-year-old Canadian said.