China finished 12th with nine medals including three golds, two golds less than in last Games, and remained the highest ranked Asian delegation, with South Korea placed 13th (3-3-2) and Japan 17th (1-4-3).

Apart from European and North American countries, only China, Japan, South Korea and Australia have struck gold in the winter Olympic history.

Zhang Hong claimed China's first ever Olympic speed skating gold in a feat hailed in the country as important as Liu Xiang's 110m hurdles victory in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The other golds were from short track speed skaters Li Jianrou and Zhou Yang.

"Despite two less golds than in Vancouver and the withdrawal by injured four-time Olympic champion Wang Meng, it is a satisfying performance," said Xiao Tian, China's deputy chef de mission.

"It was a difficult Olympics for China. We have no advantage in the 12 new events added to the Sochi Games. The good news is that we are still the best in Asia."

Xiao praised Sochi's work, saying it was beyond expectations and had given China inspirations in bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics.