【Industry Trends】Becoming a New Growth Point of Chinese National Economy

　　The past decade has witnessed achievements of China’s elite sports and sport for all, as well as fast development of sports industry.

　　After 2008 Beijing Olympics, China also successfully held Guangzhou Asian Games and Shenzhen Universiade. These international multi-sport events have left precious legacies and made far-reaching influence on sport for all and sports industry development.

　　I Great Achievements in Elite Sports

　　Indisputably, China has become a sporting giant. More and more Chinese athletes have been winning medals and respect in world class competitions.

　　From the founding of People’s Republic of China to May of 2012, Chinese athletes have won 2735 world champions and broken world records for 1072 times. On some sports, china has been maintaining its competitive advantages for many years. And in recent years, Chinese athletes have also made historic breakthroughs on few sports that used to be weak points, such as men’s swimming at 2012 London Olympics.

　　In addition, sports stars such as Li Na, Yao Ming and Ding Junhui are attracting more and more attention among the global sports community.

　　II Sport for All Chinese Citizens

　　For the decade, sport for all in China has undergone fast development. Governmental bodies at all levels are creating favorable environment for facilitating the fitness building activities. More sports facilities have been established and open to the public.

　　After years’ efforts, China now has basically achieved the goal of covering the urban and rural areas with sport for all facilities. Till June of 2012, the number of sports venues in China exceeds 1.1 million. China has also intensified support for establishment of fitness facilities in the western regions, remote and disaster-stricken areas.

　　Making the school stadiums open to the public is an effective way to alleviate the lack of sport for all venues. At present, one third of schools in China with conditions have been opened to the public.

　　In order to provide satisfying public sports services, a large number of social sports instructors are in need. There are 700 thousand instructors and 250 thousand fitness spots in China. In 2010, the national training bases for social sports instructors were expanded to 25 sports colleges. And 91 Olympic champions and world champions became national sports instructors.

　　III Sport Industry Poised for Take-off

　　Some people may discover that, during 2012 London Olympics, several delegations wore clothing of Chinese brands. In recent years, Chinese sports products, from sportswear to equipment and technology, have been winning their position among world top sporting events.

　　The success of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has provided great opportunities for the development of sports industry in China. According to statistics, Beijing Olympics brought direct sports revenues of $ 3 billion and indirect revenues of $ 5.4 billion, and enhanced the GNP growth by 0.5 percentage point.

　　Since 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, sports consumption in China has witnessed fast increase and sports industry has become a new growth point of national economy, attracting more and more investors from home and abroad. In 2008, 3.1709 million practitioners of Chinese sports industry and related industries achieved added value of 155.497 billion RMB Yuan, accounting for 0.52% of the GDP. The sports service market in China has already taken shape, including over 20 thousand enterprises specialized in competition performances, fitness and recreation, sports-related technical training. The total investment of these enterprises has surpassed 200 billion Yuan, with an annual turnover of over 60 billion RMB Yuan.

　　During post-Olympic period, with acceleration of the urbanization, governments at all levels are vigorously promoting fitness projects. The number of sports venues and fitness activities are increasing. The citizens’ consumption capabilities have been enhanced. And the development of sport for all in China has been greatly boosting the consumption of sporting goods and fitness equipment. It can be expected that the sports industry in China, from sports training courses targeted at children to the white-haired fitness projects, or from urban white-collar sports clubs to the popular competition performances, will foresee a huge space for development.