VANCOUVER - China and South Korea headline Asian hopes at the Winter Olympics starting Friday, with the once-supreme Japan desperate for a return to winning ways.

The bouyant Chinese plan "historic breakthroughs", but will struggle to match their Summer Games dominance, when they crushed all-comers to top the medal table in Beijing in 2008.

China has a bigger team here than ever before with 91 athletes, and expectations are running high.

But Zhao Yinggang, head of Chinese winter sports, also knows there are many disciplines China has yet to conquer.

"In sports where we hold future promise, we must overcome difficulties, turn the impossible into the possible and realise historic breakthroughs," Zhao said.

"But there are still many (winter) events where we are not competitive.

"Our winter sports development has grown and standards have risen but there remain many events in which we have not reached world standards."

China dominated the Summer Games in Beijing with 51 gold medals, compared with 36 for the second-place United States, but has not fared nearly as well in winter contests.

At the last Winter Games in Turin, China managed just two gold medals, four silver and five bronze.

But it has a decent chance of improving on that with top-ranked competitors in short-track speed skating, figure skating and aerial skiing.

South Korea was the best-performing Asian nation in Turin, taking home six golds, three silvers and two bronze - all from speed skating events, with all but one bronze in the short track.

They will look to world champion figure skater Kim Yu-Na to win their first gold outside speed skating in Vancouver and help fight off the growing Chinese threat.

Korean Olympic chiefs have sent their largest-ever squad of 26 men and 19 women and are eyeing at least another five golds.

But Korean Olympic Committee spokesman Kim Tae-Hyung admitted the growing strength of China could hit their bid in the women's speed skating events.

"China has emerged as a strong competitor in the women's short track speed skating, where we won three golds in the past. This time, we expect to win only one or two at best," he said.

While Korean and Chinese winter Olympic prospects are improving, Japan's have been going downhill, and it's a slide they want to halt.

Their one-medal showing in Turin was a national embarrassment and the team has vowed to restore their pride in Vancouver.

"I cannot tell exactly how many (medals). But it is quite natural for our delegation to try and match our best ever result we achieved at the Nagano Games," Japan's chef de mission Seiko Hashimoto said.

In Nagano in 1998, Japan collected a record 10 medals, including five golds.

Their medal hopes here are once again pinned on figure skaters as two former world champions, Mao Asada (2008) and Miki Ando (2007) take on reigning title-holder Kim Yu-Na.

Japan are also looking forward to the Nordic combined event after winning the world team title last year for the first time in 14 years.

Elsewhere, Taiwan has an athlete in the luge, Pakistan boasts an alpine skier and Nepal will compete in cross-country and skiing.

Han Yueshuang is Hong Kong's sole hope, in short track speed skating, while India has a chance in luge, cross-country and on the ski slopes.