On August 25, the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC) announced the first group of 40 national sports consumption pilot cities. Jiangsu province’s Nanjing, Suzhou and Changzhou cities are on the list.

Following The Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting National Fitness and Sports Consumption to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Sports Industry, the GASC started accepting and reviewing applications for national sports consumption pilot cities earlier this May in response to the impact of COVID-19 on the sports industry.

In the next step, the Jiangsu Sports Administration (JSA) will, in accordance with the requirements of GASC, guide and urge the three pilot cities to take the lead in innovating their sports consumption mechanisms, policies, models and products, in order to make positive contributions to stabilizing employment and economic growth, as well as promoting consumption and benefiting livelihood.

In recent years, Changzhou has focused on the goal of promoting quality, balanced and inclusive development, going all out to establish a public sports service system with more facilities, better organization, richer activities and better services. Every year, the city organizes more than 50 competitions at or above the provincial level and over 3,000 sports events of various types at all levels. Sports have become a source of vitality and charm for the city.