Sports fever grips the nation
By Bao Xinyan and Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-15 07:03

The whole city of Nanjing, capital of eastern Jiangsu Province is immersed in an atmosphere of sports.

Everywhere people are watching and talking about the 10th National Games, while in every public place people can be seen exercising.

In a park, old women are dancing and old men are practicing with swords, in the street young people are running or riding bikes while on campus students are participating in all kinds of sports.

Sport has gripped the city.

On Thursday morning, the day after the opening ceremony of the Games, an award ceremony was held for people who have advanced the cause of fitness , with more than 450 leaders, representatives and individuals present.

Altogether, 2,403 "Advanced Enterprises of National Fitness" and 2,009 "Advanced Individuals of National Fitness" were awarded, with five new categories added this year.

There were 301 families receiving the award exemplifying national fitness.

Awards were also given to 100 "Excellent Sport Clubs for Teenager", 484 "Excellent National Fitness Activity Sites", 12 "Excellent Sport Parks" and 10 "Excellent National Fitness Centres".

"We should seize this opportunity of holding the 2008 Olympic Games and spare no effort in developing the National Fitness Programme," emphasized Li Zhijian, party secretary of the State General Administration for Sports (SGAS) and chairman of the All-China Sports Federation.

"In 2010, we plan to establish a national fitness programme with Chinese characteristics," he added.

With the nation's biggest sport event being held in Nanjing, national fitness is raised to a new height as some of those awarded were congratulated by Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier on Wednesday.

Great achievements

Ten years ago, China's State Council enacted the Outline of the National Fitness Programme. Since then, the country has made great progress in the promotion of national fitness.

According to statistics, from the age of seven to seventy, 34 per cent of people currently take part in sports at present. Up from 33.93 per cent in 2000 and only 31.4 per cent in 1996.

People are aware of the importance of fitness and more and more now take exercise in sports clubs in their spare time, and it is a modern way of living.

In 2003, 14.35 per cent of an individual's expenditure was spent on entertainment, fitness and education, while in 1995 this figure was only 8.84 per cent.

The change has also brought opportunities for the development of the sports business and industry.

To meet the needs of people's requirements for participating in sports, fitness centres, stadiums and facilities have been built.

As shown in the statistics, by the end of 2003, there are 850,080 sports stadiums throughout China mainland, covering 2.25 billion square metres, 1.18 billion square metres more than 10 years ago.

According to Liu Guoyong, deputy director of the Sport For All Department of SGAS, last year, 60 per cent of the income from the Chinese sports lottery was used for building venues and facilities for the masses' fitness.

"By the end of 2004, 33,314 mass fitness facilities were set up, which were equipped with 16,456 basketball courts, 60,645 table tennis tables and 2,461 sets of health-quality testing equipment," Liu said. "The mass fitness projects are set up among people's residences across the whole country, which has led to people calling them 'benevolent projects'."

By the end of last year, there have been over 200,000 sports guidance centres established in cities and countryside, with more than 430,000 guides.

"We also have scientific standards to guide people's practices and try to strengthen their sport knowledge through promotion and education," Liu added.

Treasuring the Olympic chance

The hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games is sure to be a golden opportunity for the development of China's national fitness as well.

"A successful Olympic Games in 2008 should not only mean remarkable results are achieved by the athletes, but also an overall display of China's progress as far as the health of the people is concerned," Liu said. "The sports for the masses are the stage of the Chinese traditional culture, which we should protect and encourage."

"Making full use of the opportunity of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, we should further heighten the sporting knowledge of the people, promote the national fitness programme to an even larger extent and better improve the fitness facilities and venues around people," Liu said.