Sports industry engages in leapfrog development in Xi'an

Taking advantage of the recent staging of China's 14th National Games, the sports industry in Xi'an – capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province – has reportedly achieved rapid development and the sector is expected to inject new momentum into the city's economic and social development.

Since it won the right to host China's 14th National Games – held throughout Shaanxi on Sept 15-27 – there has been a whirl of concomitant commercial activity. Some 11 categories of 2,937 businesses engaged in sports industry ventures have been registered in Xi'an, and nearly 400 sports industry companies above a designated size – those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) or more – have been established in the city.

The Xi'an International Marathon is now a hot event for the sports industry in Xi'an. [Photo/Xi'an news network]

Xi'an has introduced and hosted international and national high-level sports events and has carefully built up independent intellectual property event brands, for them to become a powerful engine for the development of the sports industry.

The successful holding of high-quality events is said not only to have created a fervent atmosphere for Xi'an to organize the national games, but also effectively promoted consumer spending in the sports industry.

In 2020, the total amount of sports spending in Xi'an amounted to 28.07 billion yuan and per capita sports spending was 2,167 yuan.

A company representative explains a sports product at the Shaanxi Sports Expo. [Photo/Xi'an news network]

This year, the city has reportedly issued a series of plans and policies to accelerate the development of the sports industry.

These plans and policies have set ambitious goals: the aim is that in 2022, people engaged in spending on sports will account for more than 80 percent of the city's total population, while the scale of the sports industry will exceed 20 billion yuan, accounting for more than 2 percent of the city's GDP.

By 2025, the number of registered businesses in the sports industry will exceed 4,000, and there will be more than three national sports industry bases or demonstration projects located there. Moreover, the total operating income of the sports industry will top 50 billion yuan that year.

China's 14th National Games kicks off in Xi'an on Sept 15. [Photo/Xi'an news network]