In what may tempt fate as competition got under way in the 13th Asian Games, Samaranch told a news conference at the athletes village he believed China was getting to grips with the problem of doping.
"I will say that maybe China is one of the countries fighting with all its strength against doping - and that is quite important for the IOC (International Olympic Committee)," said the veteran Spaniard.
"I think today the fight against doping in China is an example for us all."
Samaranch gave China a similar drug-free accolade shortly before the last Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1994, only to see the Games overshadowed by a huge Chinese doping scandal.
Eleven Chinese athletes failed drug tests in Hiroshima, including seven members of China's all-conquering swimming team.
The drug busts continued at the world swimming championships in Australia earlier this year when one Chinese swimmer was found with growth hormones in her luggage and four others tested positive to a banned diuretic that can be used to mask steroid use.
The 1994 scandal came only a year after Beijing was narrowly beaten by Sydney in the IOC beauty contest for the 2000 Games - provoking fury in Beijing which claimed it had been duped by Samaranch when he encouraged the bid.
Chinese Olympic officials said recently that Bejing was likely to bid again for the 2008 Games.
Samaranch, who has been in charge of the Olympic movement since 1980 and has taken it from the era of boycotts to billion-dollar marketing deals, said he encouraged Beijing to bid during a visit there in September.
"My role is to encourage as many candidates as possible," he said. "If I'm in China, I'll encourage China. If I'm in Japan, I'll encourage Japan, and if it's Malaysia, I'll encourage them."
Samaranch said three Asian cities, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur and the Japanese city of Osaka, had expressed an interest in hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics.
He said they might be up against Cairo and Cape Town from Africa, Istanbul and Seville from Europe, and Toronto and Buenos Aires from the Americas.
"If there are seven, eight or nine, they have the same value," Samaranch said. "My opinion is that all candidates must be treated in the same way.
"But for Beijing, they have the experience. Maybe it was a good lesson for them to bid (against Sydney)."
Reuters
