The development of sports in a country is determined by both
internal and external factors. During the past two decades or so,
these two factors have been favourable for a rapid development of
sports in China. Externally, the restoration of China's legitimate
rights in international sports organizations in the late '70s paved
the way for the country to play an active part in the global
Olympic Movement. Internally, the whole country has entered a
period of unprecedented prosperity as a result of the government
policy of "reform and opening to the outside world."
ince the Nagoya meeting of the IOC in 1979, China has resumed
her membership in, or been newly admitted to, international sports
organizations one after another on "IOC model." He Zhenliang,
former President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, was elected a
member of the IOC Executive Board in 1985 and Vice-President in
1989. He is the first Chinese to hold such high distinction. As
noted by former IOC President Samaranch, China has become an
important member of the Olympic Family. Over the years the IOC has
awarded Olympic orders to a number of Chinese state and sports
leaders. Moreover, with China's status properly established in
international sports organizations, China has been able to carry
out many exchanges with the outside world - much more than those
during any previous period. During the '80s, China conducted 37,288
exchanges involving 77,866 people, considerably more than the total
in the previous three decades combined.
As result of the implementation of the Nagoya IOC resolution,
sports exchanges have also started between the two sides of the
Taiwan Strait. For more than 30 years neither side participated in
sporting activities held by international organizations with which
the other was affiliated. Since the early '80s, the situation has
changed. Teams from both sides participated in the Olympic and
Asian Games. Many sports leaders and athletes in Taiwan have bben
to the mainland. It is hoped that the "one-way traffic" in
exchanges to date will turn into "two-way traffic" in the near
future.
Here particular mention should be made of the 11th Asian Games
held in Beijing in 1990. It was not only a major contribution made
by China towards the global Olympic Movement, but also a great
social event that produced far-reaching effects beyond the field of
sports. In preparation for the 11th Asian Games, a number of sports
complexes and grand hotels sprang up altering Beijing's skyline in
just a few years: Comprehensive computer services and satellite TV
capabilities were established. A 408m-tall TV tower arose in
Beijing, the highest man-made edifice in Asia. A doping test centre
was built with the accreditation of IOC Medical Commission. Seventy
percent sports apparatus used at the Games were manufactured in
China. Beijing registered an all-time high foreign currency income
from tourism in September 1990 when the Games were held. In the
three months before and after the Games, the number of tourists to
Shaanxi Province, one of China's tourist centres, tripled the 1989
figure. Tourist income in the area was up 160 percent. The Games
also increased the country's retail sales which amounted to 22.4
billion yuan (4.17 billion US dollars) in Beijing over the first
nine months of 1990, an increase of 13.9 percent over the
corresponding period the preceding year.
The Games brought the whole nation together. The spectacular
"Light of Asian Games" torch relay race was the biggest ever held
in the world. Some 170 million people - 15 percent of China's
population - joined in or witnessed the relay, lining the streets
and roads where the torches were carried. The relay covered a total
distance of 180,000km before reaching Beijing where the sacred
flame was kindled at the opening ceremony of the Games. It was a
huge demonstration not only of support for the Games, but also of
national unity. To cover a shortfall of 0.6 billion yuan in the
Games budget, a nationwide donation campaign was held. The quota
was fulfilled ahead of schedule - another sign of patriotism and
support for the Games.
The Games' Arts Festival was a showcase of China's rich culture,
with 62 ensembles presenting some 180 shows of local drama,
acrobatics, and folk songs and dances; 51 exhibitions of relics,
national costumes, folk customs, and paintings and sculptures on
the theme of sport; and a dragon-boat regatta, a lantern festival
and market fairs held in the city's parks providing millions with
cultural entertainment.
The tremendous success of the Games encouraged Beijing to bid
for the 2000 Olympics and prove its full ability to host the
world's greatest sports gathering.
Following the 11th Asian Games, China has achieved continuous
and steady development in sports, and sports reform has made
significant headways. A long-term plan for sports promotion was
worked out and put into practice, and with the promulgation of the
Sports Law in October 1995 a breakthrough was made in the
institution of a legal system for sports in the country. While mass
sports have been more active and widespread, with a great increase
in the number of networks and organizations at the grass-roots
level, and sports exchanges and cooperation with other countries
and regions have been expanding continuously, China's overall
strength in competitive sports has remarkably increased. Statistics
show that since 1959 when Rong Guotuan won China's first world
title in the men's singles event at the 25th World Table Tennis
Championships, Chinese athletes had won a total of 1,608 world
titles and set world records on 1,087 occasions by the end of 2002.
During the last 13 years from 1989 to 2002, Chinese athletes
collected 1,254 world titles and surpassed or rewrote world records
on 705 occasions, accounting for 77.9% and 64.8% respectively of
the total numbers of world titles won and world records set in 43
years.
China first took part in the quadrennial Asian Games in 1974.
Since 1986 the Chinese delegation has been high on top of the gold
medal table for five times in a row.
As regards its participation in the Olympic Games, China did not
take part in the 22nd Olympics held in Moscow in 1980 which was
boycotted by two-fifths of the IOC-recognized NOCs to protest the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Since 1984 China has participated
in five Olympic Summer Games, in which 85 Chinese athletes, on 108
occasions, won 80 gold medals in 55 events of 10 sports including
diving. When the 23rd Olympics were held in Los Angeles in 1984,
China sent a delegation of 353 members. China's first gold medal at
the L.A. Games was won by Xu Haifeng, a marksman who also became
the first Chinese to win such an honour in Olympic history.
Altogether the Chinese athletes took 15 gold, eight silver and nine
bronze medals, a remarkable Olympic debut. They had every reason to
rejoice over this bumper harvest, particularly when they recalled
their country's performance 52 years before at the 10th Olympics,
which also took place in Los Angeles, when the only Chinese
participant Liu Changchun was eliminated in the men's 100m and 200m
sprint preliminaries.
China did not fare so well at the 24th Olympics held in Seoul in
1988 as far as medal standings (five golds, 11 silvers and 12
bronzes) were concerned, mainly because of the participation of the
Soviet and Eastern European athletes. Even so, the Seoul Games was
a happy occasion for all. It was the only Olympics in the '80s
attended by both the Soviet Union and the United States, and was an
unmistakable sign of relaxation of international tensions.
At the 25th Olympics held in Barcelona in 1992, China collected
16 golds, 22 silvers and 16 bronzes to place fourth in medal
standings behind the Commonwealth of Independent States, the United
States and Germany.
At the Centennial Olympics held in Atlanta in 1996, China
maintained its fourth place with 16 golds, 22 silvers and 12
bronzes following the United States, Russia and Germany.
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 China won an unprecedented haul
of 28 golds to rank third in gold medal standings, accomplishing
the strategic plan laid down in the 1980s. At the 19th Olympic
Winter Games held in Salt Lake City in 2002, short-track speed
skater Yang Yang (A) ended China's Winter Olympics gold medal
drought by beating a strong field to win both the women's 500m and
1000m races.
With the deepening of reforms in sports, a new pattern has
formed with sports being managed by both state and society as a
whole. As a result, more than 20 national sports administrative
centres have been set up to govern various competitive sports
originally under the direct administration of the State Sport
General Administration. A considerable portion of funds to sports
training, competition and facilities construction comes from
enterprises and individuals instead of exclusively from government
budgets. Sports industry is flourishing. The National Fitness
Programme has witnessed a vigorous development throughout the
country, as the Chinese sports authorities have paid equal
attention to raising athletic standards and promoting sports among
the masses of people. Meanwhile, new chapters have been opened in
scientific research and publicity. It is the belief of many that
with Beijing's successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games sports in
this country, Olympic or non-Olympic, will develop to a new high in
the lead-up to the Games, which will in turn help make further
contributions to the global Olympic Movement.
(COC Website?? July 8, 2004)