(Yicai) Sept. 5 -- China aims to develop its sports industry to achieve a scale of over CNY7 trillion (USD981 billion) by 2030, according to a new set of guidelines issued by the General Office of the State Council.

China plans to cultivate sports companies and events with global influence, which can propel its domestic sports industry to a scale of more than CNY7 trillion by 2030, according to the guidelines released yesterday.

The guidelines outline 20 measures across six fields, which are expanding the supply of sports products and events, stimulating sports consumption, assisting sports business entities, cultivating new growth points in the sports industry, enhancing the support for industrial factors, and improving services and assistance levels.

Among them, stimulating sports consumption will be carried out through four key approaches: expanding consumption scenarios, organizing consumption activities, implementing consumer-friendly initiatives, and broadening the consumer base.

The measures include enriching sports events and activities, developing the outdoor sports industry, fostering and expanding the ice and snow economy, and promoting the upgrade of sports goods, aiming to increase the supply of sports products.

Moreover, the guidelines explore the application of new technologies, such as Big Data and artificial intelligence, in the sports industry to enhance the digitalization of sports products and services.

In terms of financial support, the guidelines pledged to guide financial institutions in optimizing investment and financial services, support eligible sports enterprises in going public, conducting refinancing, issuing bonds, and engaging in asset securitization, and promote the full utilization of relending and rediscount policies to ensure that business entities in the sports industry benefit from policy incentives.

China’s sports industry had a scale of CNY3.67 trillion (USD514.4 billion) in 2023, accounting for 1.15 percent of the gross domestic product, up from 1.08 percent the year before, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Sports services accounted for over 57 percent of the total, sports goods for 40 percent, and sports venue construction for the remaining 3 percent.

Between 2019 and 2023, the Chinese sports industry maintained an average annual growth rate of over 10 percent, the NBS data also showed.

Editor: Futura Costaglione