French Olympic catamaran sailors prepare for a practice session in front of a statue of the Chinese goddess of the sea named Mazu in Qingdao, 04 Jul 2008

China says it will deploy unmanned aircraft or drones over its Olympic sailing venue in the coastal city of Qingdao during the Beijing Games to watch for suspicious activities.

The state-run Xinhua news agency says police tested one of the drones Friday during a drill in the Shandong provincial capital of Jinan, not far from Qingdao.

Reports say it is the first time that China has used the unmanned, low-flying reconnaissance aircraft.

Xinhua says the drones will scout out suspicious activity and transmit photos and video back to a command station.

It did not say what threats the sailing event could face.

China has said terrorism is the biggest threat to the Beijing games and already claims to have foiled terrorist plots targeting athletes and foreigners during the Olympics.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.