In the past year, Chinese athletes claimed 127 world championship titles in 25 sports on the world stage, boosting the sports industry.

1 Added value of Chinese sports industry reaches 400b yuan

The development of China's sports industry has been significantly boosted since the State Council issued a national plan to promote sports-related consumption as a new economic driver last year.

The added value of the sports industry had reached 400 billion yuan ($61.5 billion) by the end of 2015 to account for 0.7 percent of GDP, achieving the goal set in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).

The total gross output of the sports industry in China is expected to reach 3 trillion yuan in 2020 with the added value contributing to 1 percent of GDP.

2 Fitness campaign scores well

China's five-year fitness campaign (2011-15) has yielded impressive results as more people view exercise as a healthy lifestyle choice and participation in sports continues to grow.

The proportion of Chinese who exercise at least three times a week with medium intensity had increased to 33.9 percent of the country's population by the end of 2014, an increase of 5.7 percentage points from 2007, according to a national exercise survey by the China Institute of Sport Science.

The proportion of regular exercisers reached 19.8 percent among people aged over 16 in urban areas and 9.5 percent of that age group in rural regions, increasing 6.7 and 5.4 percentage points respectively.

Support policies and services for students to exercise have been well developed while the number of elderly and disabled who exercised regularly also increased.

3 Chinese are taller, stronger, fitter

The overall fitness of the Chinese people has improved slightly over the past five years, according to a survey by the General Administration of Sport.

The survey, which analyzed data from 223,124 people from 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, found that Chinese have grown taller and stronger and most of their athletic abilities have increased by a small margin from a study in 2010.

According to the national fitness standard, which grades fitness status into four levels by assessing body shape, physical function and athletic ability, 89.6 percent of Chinese reached the second "qualified" level, a 0.7-percent increase from 2010.

4 Swimming power status cemented

China cemented its status as an emerging power in swimming at the 2015 FINA World Championships by topping the medal tally at the biennial event with 15 gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze medals from the swimming and diving pools.

The 22-year-old freestyle specialist Ning Zetao delivered the biggest surprise at the event in Kazan, Russia, by claiming a gold medal in the high-profile men's 100 m freestyle in 47.84 seconds to become the first Asian swimmer to crack the 48-second barrier and win the sprint event, which is dominated by Westerners.

Boasting a balanced contingent led by Ning and Olympic champion swimmer Sun Yang, China looks set to achieve a more ambitious golden haul at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.

5 Sprinters lead athletic breakthroughs

Chinese athletes made sound breakthroughs, especially in men's sprint events, at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, raising high expectations for their campaign at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Chinese sprinter Su Bingtian, 26, became the first Asian-born athlete to reach the final of the men's 100m race at the Worlds after clocking 9.99 seconds at the semifinals.

Led by Su, the Chinese team finished third in the final of the 4x100m relay in Beijing but was upgraded to second place after the United States was disqualified for a false exchange, becoming the first team from Asia to win a silver medal at the marquee event.

6 Women volleyballers regain their mojo

The once all-conquering Chinese women's volleyball team regained its mojo by outperforming host Japan to win the FIVB World Cup in September and qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Guided by former star spiker, "Iron Hammer" Lang Ping, the Chinese overcame a second-set scare to defeat Japan 3-1 on the final day of the World Cup in Nagoya to finish top of the 12-team tournament and clinch a direct berth to the 2016 Games.

The World Cup trophy was the first world title China has clinched since its gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, under former mentor Chen Zhonghe. It was also the first major crown (Olympics, World Championships and World Cup) to be placed on the resume of coach Lang, who returned to the Chinese national post in 2013 after leading China and the United States to silver medals at the Olympics in 1996 and 2008.

7 Men's basketball team wins FIBA Asian title

China's men's national basketball team claimed the title of the 2015 FIBA Asian Championship on a nine-win streak in October in Changsha, Hunan province, to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics tournament.

The victory helped China redeem its loss at the 2013 Asian Championship when it finished fifth, the worst result at the biennial event since 1975.

It was the 16th Asian Championship crown China has won and the triumph boosted the confidence of the young Chinese squad for the Olympics campaign in August this year.

8 Soccer reform overhauls management system

A national soccer reform campaign, which was initiated by the State Council in March, kicked off an overhaul of the game's counter-productive management by separating the Chinese Football Association from the General Administration of Sport of China, the top sports governing body, to make CFA a full-fledged nongovernmental organization run by professional crews.

Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande won its second AFC Champions League title in three years in November, bringing consolation for Chinese fans who were heartbroken by the Chinese national team's disappointing 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. After tying Hong Kong, team China, in a crucial group match on Nov 17, China lost the chance to qualify for the 2018 World Cup directly with only a thin theoretical chance to make it depending on other teams' results in the pool stage.

 

9 Athletes join 1st National Youth Games to Beijing

The inaugural National Youth Games concluded in a celebratory atmosphere on Oct 27 in Fujian province. Aiming to provide young talent a stage for athletic competition and cultural exchanges, the Youth Games attracted more than 7,000 athletes aged from 13 to 21 to compete in 26 sports during the 10-day event.

Boasting a frugal operation model, the Games also featured various educational and cultural exchange activities alongside the athletic competitions.

Twenty cultural experience huts were set up in the athletes' village, where traditional arts, handicrafts production and interactive games were demonstrated. The huts became the most-visited venues and received more than 6,000 athletes during the games.

10 Winter Olympics bid win gives world first

Beijing, with co-host city Zhangjiakou in surrounding Hebei province, won the rights to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games over bidding opponent Almaty, Kazakhstan, at the 128th Session of the International Olympic Committee in July.

Winning the bid to host the winter extravaganza will make Beijing the only city in the world to stage both the Summer and Winter Olympics, while also triggering a boom in participation in winter sports across North China.

During Beijing's bidding process, Beijing-born ice hockey player Song Andong was picked up by the New York Islanders in June to become the first Chinese drafted in the US-based National Hockey League, echoing Beijing's bid plan to promote winter sports among 300 million Chinese.

(China Daily USA 01/15/2016 page19)