CHONGQING, China, April 27 -- After field inspection in the Chinese city of Chongqing, Chang Ju-Ho, president of the Association For International Sport for All (TAFISA ), applauded China's practice in promoting national fitness movement across the country and called on the world to refer to the successful experiences of the world most populous country.
"I had a day of visit to Wansheng, Chongqing and was greatly impressed to see the scene of Sport for All in the Olympic Park and the Ordovician Extreme Outdoor Sports Facility. Seeing people practicing sports, I strongly felt the vitality and dynamic that sports brought into their daily lives," said the South Korean during the Global Active City Chinese Project Forum in Chongqing on Friday.
Chang called on the world to "pay a full attention to Chinese practice in the development of Sport for All, and refer to the successful case of Wansheng District according to their own various conditions", as he launched the "Wansheng Proposal" during the forum.
"In China, the practice of Sport for All has been emphasized at the governmental level, with strategic and systematical planning of policy system. It was carried out effectively according to the various conditions of places in the long run," Chang added.
China launched the "National Fitness Day" in 2009 as a legacy of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Fitness has gained nationwide momentum over the past decade with more and more sports facilities being constructed across the country and the notion of investment in health taking firmer root among Chinese people.
The Chinese government made national fitness a key national strategy in 2017 with plans to develop the country's sports industry and raising the annual output of the sector to five trillion yuan (some 743 billion U.S. dollars) by 2025. The strategy also laid out goals of per capita area of sport grounds reaching two square meters and people that exercise regularly reaching 500 million by 2025.
Located in the south of Chongqing in the southwest of China, the Wansheng District is one of the most successful model to implement the national fitness strategy as nearly 60 percent of the population engage in various of sports exercises in daily life.
The local government has built more than 600 badminton courts and nearly 800 kilometers of hiking routes alongside dozens of fitness parks and sports complexes scattered across the whole area.
"Everyone has the right to be healthy. Everyone therefore has the right to participate in sports and physical activity in order to promote health. As the leading international Sport for All organization, TAFISA encourages active participation in sports to exercise such rights," Chang said.
"Europe used to be the center of global Sport for All movement. Now I hope this center can be transferred to China," he said. "TAFISA supports the role of China in contributing more to the global social welfare."