Chinese scientists have developed a vaccine against human infections of bird flu, the government said yesterday.

Clinical testing on people will begin soon, Liu Yanhua, vice-minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

If the tests are successful, it would be the first vaccine in the world to treat human cases of bird flu.

Experts hailed the progress, saying it demonstrates that China is at the forefront of research to fight the deadly disease.

Should human infections be found, the government is capable of containing their spread and ensure public health, they said.

Chinese scientists described the vaccine as an equivalent to Tamiflu, the anti-viral drug made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding AG, which is so far the only medication found to be effective against bird flu.

Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, was earlier quoted by Information Times newspaper as saying the drug would be effective in treating the virus.

No other details about the medicine have been released.

The government is also stepping up production of bird flu vaccine for fowls.

The Ministry of Agriculture said that the country now produces more than 100 million doses daily, but some affected areas have reported a shortage.

The ministry said it would accelerate production of the vaccine by expanding capacity with the addition of two factories.

Meanwhile, a highly-pathogenic bird-flu outbreak has been reported in a village near Huainan city of East China's Anhui Province, the ministry said yesterday. It is the ninth such outbreak in China since last month.

About 800 fowls raised by farmers in Fanwei village near Huainan died on November 6; and the national bird-flu lab confirmed yesterday that the cause was the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.

More than 126,000 fowls have been culled within 3 kilometres of the epidemic zone; and all poultry markets within 10 kilometres have been closed.

In another development, health authorities are investigating the cases of people who are suspected to have been infected with H5N1 bird flu virus.

For now, experts can only confirm that an ill woman in Northeast China's Liaoning Province is a serious case of pneumonia, Mao Qun'an, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, told China Daily yesterday.

Further tests will be done on Liu, 36, who was hospitalized with high fever on November 6.

Liu, who owns a small chicken farm in Heishan County, had helped neighbours dispose of dead chicken infected with bird flu a week before she developed high fever.

In Central China's Hunan Province, a 12-year-old girl died on October 17 after developing a high fever. Her nine-year-old brother and a 36-year-old school teacher, who had the same symptoms, have recovered.

A World Health Organization (WHO) team arrived in the province yesterday to probe the three suspected cases of human infection.

The six-member WHO team will work in Hunan for about one week, said Roy Wadia, WHO's China spokesman; and possibly meet the two people suspected to be infected with bird flu.

Except for Hunan and Liaoning, no other place in China has reported suspected human cases of bird flu, which has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- After years of fierce lobbying and months of secrecy, Beijing unveiled five mascots for the 2008 Olympics on Friday, opening a marketing blitz that is expected to reap record profits.

In an elaborate, nationally televised gala at a Beijing sports arena to mark the 1,000-day countdown until the Games, senior Chinese leaders introduced the mascots -- cartoon renditions of a panda, fish, Tibetan antelope, swallow and the Olympic flame, each one the color of one of the Olympic rings.

"The five friendlies are an incredible little family carefully chosen by Beijing 2008 to represent all of China to carry a message of friendship to the children of the world," International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said in a statement that was read at the ceremony.

"China is so lucky to have so many beautiful animals to represent the Olympic spirit," Rogge said.

The animals were introduced as Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying and Ni Ni -- which, put together, translates to "Beijing welcomes you!"

It is the most number of mascots any Olympic Games has had in more than 30 years. The Salt Lake City and Sydney Games both had three.

A plethora of real and mythic creatures were among the candidates considered by Chinese leaders, Olympic officials and design specialists over the past year. Among those that didn't make the cut were the dragon and a mischievous magical monkey out of Chinese folklore.

The choice, the subject of lively media speculation for months, has been a secret since it was finalized three months ago, sealed by confidentiality agreements and the habitual secrecy of the communist government.

At stake for China is one of the most marketable symbols in the Olympics -- a symbol that stands to generate significant revenues and public support for the Beijing Games, which will cost an estimated $38 billion.

Sales of licensed products, including those with the mascot, have brought in about $300 million at the Sydney and Athens Olympics. Host cities keep 10 to 15 percent of the royalties, helping to defray the costs of staging the Games.

Officials with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games say they expect sales of such products to be higher still.

To capitalize on the mascots' publicity, Beijing is launching an extensive marketing campaign. An animated film put together by Han Meilin, who headed the design team, was screened at Friday night's unveiling and is expected to be replayed on Chinese television in coming days.

"This time the mascot design fully combines traditional Chinese culture," Han was quoted as saying by the Chinese Web site, Sina.com.

On Saturday, postage stamps and more than 300 other licensed products of the mascot go on sale at 188 authorized venues across the country, widening a product line of T-shirts, caps, pens and bags bearing the 2008 Games logo, according to Olympic officials.

To capture an entire range of consumers, the mascot products will range from fluorescent pens for 8 yuan ($1) to souvenirs made from precious metals selling for tens of thousands of yuan (thousands of dollars).

Beyond the sales expectations, China has tried to use the mascot-selection process to involve communities far from Beijing. On hand for the unveiling at the Workers Gymnasium in eastern Beijing were 100 children "ambassadors" from western provinces.

Organizers of the Games threw open the selection process, inviting suggestions from the public and local governments, and many of the latter lobbied fiercely for the honor.

Sichuan province spent 2 million yuan ($240,000) in public and privately donated funds on promoting the panda.

Altogether, BOCOG has received 662 suggestions. Organizers whittled those down to 56, which were then put to a ten-member expert committee of designers, which in turn selected six candidates. Organizers and senior leaders then chose one, and the International Olympic Committee approved the choice in August.