The Shanghai Shenhua central defender was axed from the squad before China's clash with Asian champions Iraq on February 6, as the Chinese aim to reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 2002 and for only the second time in their history.

"After discussions and approval by the national-team commission, seven players who trained with the national team have been asked to leave," said a statement on the Chinese Football Association website.

"They are Zhang Yaokun, Du Wei, Lu Bofei, Li Jianhua, Sun Ji, Wang Waipeng and Yang Lin. This is a regular procedure in the preparation for the FIFA World Cup preliminary."

The decision comes after the national team drew 0-0 with the United Arab Emirates and lost 4-0 to Hamburg in preparation for the game against the Iraqis.

China, currently coached by Vladimiar Petrovic, are looking to overcome a poor run of form which saw them exit last summer's Asian Cup finals in Malaysia at the group stage, while they were also eliminated in the early stages of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup finals.