It also promises to build more sports facilities so every citizen can reach the nearest sports/physical exercise venue within 15 minutes, and said there would be on average 2.16 coaches or instructors for every 1,000 people playing sports or doing regular physical exercise. The 2021-25 plan, for instance, says that by 2025, 38.5 percent (compared with 37.2 percent in 2021) of China's population would take part in regular sports activities. In 2011, the State Council began publishing five-year plans to implement the national fitness program, setting targets and measures to take the program forward. And Sports Lottery tickets were sold nationwide to raise funds for building and renovating sports facilities.

In 1995, the State Council, China's Cabinet, published the 'Outline of National Fitness Program', promising to invest more resources to make sports facilities more easily accessible to the public.

With China investing more resources in the sports sector thanks to the fast-paced economic development and winning world titles becoming normal for Chinese athletes, the government started encouraging ordinary citizens to play sports. In the past decade, Chinese athletes have been winning about 120 gold medals in international sports tournaments every year. In all, Chinese athletes won 15 gold medals in the Los Angeles Olympics, setting the course to becoming a global sports power. The investment paid off, as China got its first Olympic gold medal in shooting in 1984. Parades celebrating the victory were held on many university campuses, with some students shouting slogans such as 'revitalizing China', which has since become the goal of the nation.īoosted by the victory, China invested more of its limited resources in training athletes. The first major international breakthrough for China came in 1981 when its women's volleyball team won the Women's Volleyball World Cup. It was very good at table tennis, though.

Įditor's note: From a minor player in international sports to a major sports power in a couple of decades, China's rise on the global sports stage has been dramatic but not unexpected thanks to the huge amount of resources it has invested in the sports sector, writes a veteran journalist with China Daily.Īs I worked as a sports journalist for my first 10 years with China Daily, I have closely followed how China has grown from a minor player in the international sports arena into a global sports power.ĭespite its huge population, China was not much of a global force in sports until the 1980s. Team China pose for photo before the awarding ceremony of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 in Sydney, Australia, Oct 1, 2022.

Basketball awarding ceremony program