China's State Council will probe into US allegations that Chinese factories supplied illegal US laboratories with the raw materials to make anabolic steroid, according to Xinhua News Agency which quoted an official from China's National Sports Commission. 

China, which is staging the Olympic Games in Beijing next year, was taking the allegations seriously and was prepared to shut down factories, according to Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

"The Chinese take it seriously and will continue to cooperate. And if they find there are any illegal activities here in China I am sure they will act appropriately to close them down," Pound told a press conference after discussing the probe with top Chinese officials during his week-long visit to Beijing.

In February, US DEA agents visited China with evidence concerning several factories that were allegedly producing steroid ingredients and asked for China's help in the probe. One of those factories has reportedly been shut down.