National Games mirrors China's rise as sporting power

by sportswriter He Leijing

GUANGZHOU -- As the 15th National Games unfolds in southern China, the country's premier multi-sport event serves as a mirror, reflecting its journey toward becoming a global sports power and hinting at its future ambitions.

When the inaugural National Games opened in 1959 at Beijing's newly built Workers' Stadium, the decade-old People's Republic of China was just beginning to rebuild its athletic foundations.

Sixty-six years later, this year's edition is marked by both expectation and confidence.

For the first time, the games are being staged across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Featuring 419 gold medal events across 34 sports, its competitive program is benchmarked to the Olympic Games schedule.

PROVING GROUND FOR ELITE SPORT

In its early years, the National Games were modest in scale but monumental in impact. The first edition offered 36 competitive sports in bare-bones venues with limited equipment. Yet athletes shattered 106 national records, laying the groundwork for China's modern sports system.

As China opened to the world, the games evolved rapidly. By the 1983 edition in Shanghai, the program began aligning fully with the Olympics, signaling China's determination to compete globally. The games soon became an Olympic talent pipeline.

Hong Kong sent a full delegation for the first time in 1997. Four years later, Guangzhou hosted the ninth games shortly after Beijing won its Olympic bid, igniting nationwide sports fever and turning the event into a genuine test for elite athletes.

In sports like table tennis, diving and weightlifting, National Games competition has grown fiercer than many global events, creating an oft-heard quip that winning a national title may be harder than winning Olympic gold.

China's results reflect that intensity. Between 2021 and 2024, Chinese athletes amassed 519 world titles and broke 68 world records. Beijing 2022 delivered the nation's best Winter Olympics performance, while Paris 2024 yielded its strongest overseas Summer Games showing.

Since 2015, China's sports authorities have stopped publishing medal tallies for provincial delegations - a symbolic move to steer the games away from medal obsession and return to sport's essence.

This year marks Guangdong's third time as host. The Nov. 9 opening ceremony drew International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry and IOC Honorary President Thomas Bach.

"The National Games, with 25,000 athletes across so many age groups, are unique and create a great sense of unity. China is a real powerhouse in international sport," Coventry said after the ceremony.

SMARTER, SIMPLER, GREENER

Innovation has increasingly defined the National Games in the 21st century. At the 2005 edition in Jiangsu, a giant robot soared above the local Olympic sports center to ignite the cauldron, signaling a bold new era of tech-driven spectacle.

By 2009, Shandong had rolled out large-scale electronic timing and scoring systems. In 2013, Liaoning embraced digital event management. At this year's cross-boundary games, technology permeates everything from AI-assisted officiating and 5G+8K livestreams to robotic award presenters.

Security has also gone high-tech. Robotic dogs named MAXHUB X7 patrol venues, using sensors to detect fire hazards, abnormal temperatures or suspicious objects.

Organizers said more than 130 advanced technologies, from autonomous shuttles to AR-powered digital wallets, have been deployed throughout the competition.

The current event follows a "simple yet splendid" philosophy. More than 90% of venues in Guangdong are refurbished facilities from previous events. The opening ceremony replaced fireworks with reusable electronic pyrotechnics.

The upgrades have breathed new life into aging venues. Shenzhen Sports Center, built in 1985, now features a retractable roof, movable seating and a modular center-hung scoreboard. The stadium meets international Class A football standards and can dry rain-soaked turf within 20 minutes using an intelligent ventilation system.

Guangdong Olympic Sports Center, retrofitted with rooftop solar panels and energy-efficient glass, served as the opening ceremony venue and now functions as a public sports park.

To power a greener games, Guangdong purchased 188,000 green certificates to ensure 100% renewable electricity for all competition venues in the province, cutting carbon emissions by an estimated 160,000 tons - equivalent to planting 8.88 million trees.

FESTIVAL FOR ALL

As China's sports vision broadens, the National Games has evolved from a purely elite event into an integrated celebration of sport, culture, tourism and regional cooperation.

The 2025 edition marks the first time Hong Kong and Macao have co-hosted a national multi-sport event since their returns to China - a milestone in Greater Bay Area integration.

Li Jing, an organizing committee official, said cross-boundary events including a men's road cycling race across the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and a marathon between Shenzhen and Hong Kong showcase connectivity and the "one country, two systems" policy in action.

Sports-tourism integration is also gaining momentum. Events staged in commercial districts draw crowds directly into local businesses. Macao issued 485 million patacas (about 60.5 million U.S. dollars) in consumption incentives from September through November to leverage the games as a cultural tourism magnet.

Mass participation has become a defining feature. First introduced in the 2017 Tianjin games, amateur events opened the stage to dragon boat teams, tai chi practitioners and grassroots athletes of all ages.

This year, more than 16,000 non-professional participants - from schoolchildren and teachers to doctors and farmers - have competed, including an 8-year-old model plane pilot and an 81-year-old paddler.

Hong Kong fielded full amateur delegations for the first time and earned strong results. Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao also formed joint teams in dragon boat, lion dance and dragon dance events.

"We hope to use the games to encourage more joint community sports activities across the Greater Bay Area," said Ding Dong, an official with the General Administration of Sport of China.

The ripple effect is nationwide. Public fitness has become a social norm, with sports infrastructure expanding from cities to rural communities.

Statistics show that by 2024, China counted more than 4.84 million sports venues covering 4.23 billion square meters - more than double the 2013 figures. Per-capita sports area reached 3 square meters, and more than 38.5% of the population engaged in regular exercise.

Through the lens of the National Games, what emerges is a portrait of Chinese sport in full bloom. As the event continues to evolve, its next transformation may bring the Chinese people even closer to a vibrant sporting future.