China's top sports official on Monday said the hosting of the National Games by Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong late last year marked "an innovative practice of the One Country, Two Systems principle".

Speaking to reporters in the "Ministers' Corridor" in the Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Gao Zhidan, director of the State General Administration of Sports, also pledged a slate of reforms to aid the country to become a leading sports power.

In reviewing achievements over the past five years, he said the country had achieved success in hosting various events, such as the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2022, as well as record-breaking performances in the Paris Summer Olympics in 2024 and the recently concluded Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.

"We have truly been innovative in practice with 'One Country, Two Systems' [by hosting the Greater Bay Area National Games last year], and the business scale of the sports sector has been climbing up," Gao said.

"All those achievements have helped us to embark on a new journey for the sports sector over the next five years," he said.

On what's up ahead for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Gao pledged that authorities would deepen reforms and crackdowns to improve governance and transform China into a strong sports nation that would be people-centred.

Major policy moves, he said, would include developing 49 major outdoor sports locations, encouraging more people to join in sports activities at all levels, and putting fitness venues, "their truly happy places", in spots that residents could access within 15 minutes.

The initiatives are coming, Gao added, in the wake of the immense popularity achieved by the Su Super League, a grassroots football league in Jiangsu province, in the country since its inception last summer.

"We're [also] going to cement our position in badminton, diving, gymnastics and weightlifting events and continue to develop track records in track and field, swimming and water sports," he said after attending the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress.

"We'll work on the three 'ball games' – basketball, volleyball and tennis – to cement our foundation and make break breakthroughs in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

"We are going to pave the way for the building of China into a sports power."

The country, Gao also said, has huge potential to further develop the sports industry and businesses with a rise of the "winter economy" that has seen interest in winter sports, gear or travel activities spike.

"The winter economy has exceeded our expectations, and the just-concluded Milano-Cortina Olympics Winter Games saw the use of Chinese AI technologies and Chinese brands providing gear and clothing in the Games," he said.

More than 219 million people participated in winter-sports activities in 2024 and 2025 while around 38 percent of the populace had taken up one sports activity or another.


Edited by Tony Sabine