A fitter student body

"Losing weight is not the end, however. We hope the students can cultivate a lasting passion for sports and healthy lifestyle."

In recent years, many Chinese universities have required their students to reach a certain level of physical fitness.

Since September 2017, first-year students at Tsinghua University have to show they can swim at least 50 meters before they are eligible for graduation.

Shanghai University, Xiamen University, and Sun Yat-sen University have also listed swimming as a compulsory course.

In a similar move, first-year students at Zhejiang University who wish to receive full marks in their off-class part of their compulsory PE classes are now required to run 48 times each semester, with male students obliged to run 3.5 kilometers each time, and female students 2.5 kilometers.

Measures like these are aimed at helping college students maintain and improve their physical fitness, according to Wang Zongping, a professor of physical education at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.

In an unprecedented move, Nankai University in 2017 issued certificates of physical fitness to over 1,200 graduates who exercised regularly and kept fit.

More than 1,500 students received similar certificates in 2018.

Speaking about universities' focus on fitness, Wang says: "Those prestigious institutions have realized that poor health means no future for their students."

In April 2017, China's central government released its Middle and Long-term Youth Development Plan (2016-25), vowing to improve the level of physical health among young people, and urging schools to "toughen the implementation of the National Students' Physical Health Standard and help develop the habit of lifelong exercise".

Wang agrees with the new push, saying: "Universities should set a good example by helping students foster good exercise habits."