Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Fitness and Recreation Industry(Mainland China)

2016.10.25
James Cheng
The General Office of the State Council formally promulgated the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Fitness and Recreation Industry (the “Guiding Opinions”) on October 25, 2016 to promote an across-the-board, healthy and sustainable development of the fitness and recreation industry. According to the Guiding Opinions, accelerating the development of the fitness and recreation industry is a powerful driver for pushing the sports industry towards more in-depth development and is thus a necessary part of enhancing the health quality of the citizens, realizing a deep link between fitness and health, and an essential task for building a “healthy China.” This also carries vital significance in exploring and priming consumer activity, protecting and improving the livelihood of the citizens, cultivating new economic growth drivers and enhancing new economic growth momentum. The main points of the Guiding Opinions are highlighted below:
1. Adherence to market leadership and continued satisfaction of the multidimensional and diverse fitness and recreation needs of the public. In 2025, the fitness and recreation industry will have established a reasonable, comprehensively featured and complete state, and the total market size of the industry would reach RMB 3 trillion.
2. Perfection of the current system of fitness and recreation services. Daily workouts will be promoted, outdoor activities in the snow, mountains, water, air, automobiles and motorcycles will be developed. In addition, currently trending sports and sports with ethnic characteristics will be developed to promote interactions between industries, thus promoting “Internet + Recreation.”
3. Cultivation of main entities in the fitness and recreation market. The development of all fitness and recreation enterprises will be supported to strengthen sports organizations and encourage entrepreneurship.
4. Optimization of the structure and deployment of the fitness and recreation industry. Increase the ratio of service providers, improve the structure of the fitness and recreation industry, and support the development of fitness and recreation industries with particular features in various regions.
5. Enhanced development of fitness and recreation facilities. Improve the fitness and recreation infrastructure networking, properly leverage the existing stadium resources, and improve the construction of fitness and recreation facilities with particular features.
6. Enhanced research and development of fitness and recreation equipment. Strengthen innovation, brand name building, and support the industry in transforming and upgrading its business.
7. Improvement to the environment for fitness and recreation spending. Tap deeply into spending potential, strengthen consumer policies, and provide guidance to healthy spending.
To ensure that relevant policies are implemented, the Guiding Opinions will continue the “delegation of power” reforms, optimize the planning and land use policies, improve input mechanisms, enhance protection of talents, improve standards and accounting systems, the labor scheme and supervision.