China has expanded its sports facilities at 1,100 million square meters in the last five years, to reach a total of 4,230 million, according to the balance of the National Sports Promotion policy released by the Information Office of the State Council (Executive).
The data were presented today at a press conference by Gao Zhidan, director of the General Sports Administration, who stressed that the sector “has focused on high quality development and innovation on reforms” and that “sport plays an increasingly important role in social cohesion and economic development.”
In that same period, the number of certified physical exercise instructors amounted to 3.71 million and the proportion of citizens who practice sports regularly exceeded 38.5%, according to official figures.
In parallel, the added value of the sports industry reached in 2023 the 1.49 billion yuan (about 207 billion dollars), which represented 1.15% of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
You may be interested: EU insists on what influence from China on Panama Canal ‘threatens global security’
According to the official balance, this indicator grew at an average annual pace of 11.6% during the last five years, while the global size of the industry increased by 10.3% annual to placed by 3.67 billion yuan (about 511 billion dollars).
In parallel, the weight of services within the industry went from 68.7% to 72.7% between 2020 and 2023, while in 40 cities pilot the sport consumption expense grew by more than 100 billion yuan (about 14 billion dollars), driven by new facilities and public spaces for daily practice.
These advances are framed in the fourteen five-year plan (2021-2025), the economic and social planning program with which Beijing fixes its strategic priorities every five years.
The plan includes the goal of consolidating China as “sports power”, although the country still drags challenges such as the improvement of governance in popular disciplines such as football and the challenge of transferring investment in infrastructure to a sustained citizen practice.
With EFE information
Follow the information about the world in our international section
