The State Council has recently unveiled the Nationwide Fitness Plan (2016-2020), which predicts that the total scale of China's sports consumption will reach RMB 1.5 trillion (US$227.7 bn) by 2020.

During the same period, as many as 700 million Chinese people are expected to take part in sports at least once a week. The number of sports enthusiasts may reach 435 million.

As reported in various stories, the ambitious plan also emphasizes the development of football and winter sports. For example, more football fields will be constructed to help develop Chinese rural areas.

More importantly, the government is set to launch a strong sports facility network, which will enable Chinese people to access sports within 15 minutes. And the public sports area for each person is expected to reach 1.8 square meters.

As predicted, within four years, the nationwide fitness scheme will become a motivating factor to the sports boom, consumption increase and economic growth in China.

Source: gov.cn

Proofread by Sean O Diobhilin