China refocuses on sport as government moves on from a challenging decade

Country will soon publish its fifteenth five-year plan, of which sport will be a part

As China heads towards the publication of its fifteenth five-year plan, it is already becoming clear that sport will be part of it.

Government officials are signalling that the country will be seeking to establish business models that integrate sports with culture, tourism, and healthcare.

This will involve calls for lenders and local governments to invest in facilities for athletes and spectators to help boost the economy.

China’s renewed focus on sport comes after Covid disruption to the country’s plans for sport which saw the country locked down and its economy faltering for a prolonged period.

At the end of 2019, there was speculation that China would bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, something that led to construction starting on what was, at the time, intended to be the world’s biggest football stadium.

Not only have such ambitions gone – it is likely to be the 2040s before China can host world football’s showcase tournament, whilst the stadium’s construction has been significantly scaled back – but government officials will be mindful of the disruptive period ten years ago when investment speculation resulted in the unsustainable (and politically unpalatable) development of Chinese sport.

This time round, China’s approach to its next sport policy cycle appears to be more considered, better informed, and less exposed to the frenzy and risks of 2015 and 2016.

Policy makers are apparently thinking more holistically, linking sport and well-being whilst remaining acutely aware of the need to ensure the sport industry’s long-term economic sustainability.

Among the outcomes we should therefore expect is a further uptick in mass participation numbers on China (already a strong sector in the country’s sport economy); the country’s resurgence as an event staging destination (already there are rumours of a 2036 Olympic Games bid); and the growing global presence of Chinese companies and brands (such as Anta and Li Ning).

Complex geopolitics may yet undermine China’s ambitions, not least the currently unpredictable nature of American government policy, but we are not heading back towards the days of football players and overseas clubs being expensively acquired by speculative, inexperienced Chinese investors.