"Indonesia was once strong and Denmark, too. China has risen up, but the champions eventually retire and the next generation comes up slowly. So there will be some difficulties. This is normal.

"But China will still have top players competing in future because we have a lot of juniors at high levels.

"After these Games, our next generation will be strong. For a country to maintain its excellence it definitely needs to emphasize systemic talent development and very good training systems. China has, so I am not worried about the future."

Indonesia, Spain and Japan won the other titles in Rio.

"Badminton is developing on all sides," Li said. "But there is no point judging everyone else's progress, it's a matter of concentrating on your own.

"It is fair to say we have more difficulties than before, but that does not mean we are going to fall behind."