Ice hockey lovers take part in training at a rink in Zhangjiakou economic development zone in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Dec. 12, 2020. In recent years, Zhangjiakou has acted to promote ice and snow sports, upgrade its ice and snow sports facilities and strengthen related industries, in a bid to attract more and more people to join various sports. (Photo by Wu Diansen/Xinhua)
In a year that saw global sports events postponed or canceled, the sports industry in China faced severe challenges, but also opportunities as people's awareness of fitness grew.
BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- The year 2020 was a mixed blessing for China's sports industry.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the sports industry was on a fast track of steady growth. According to statistics from the China General Administration of Sport, the total size of the sports industry grew at an average annual rate of 15.9 percent, and the added value grew at an average annual rate of 22.4 percent from 2015 to 2018.
However, the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has had a huge impact on China's sports industry. Almost all major domestic and international sporting events were rescheduled or canceled in the first half of the year. People were reluctant to go outside, and most sports companies struggled to do business. Some didn't survive.
The staff of a sports facility company in Langfang, north China's Hebei province, assembles exercising facilities on March 24, 2020. (Xinhua)
According to a research report of 2020 resumption of work in the sports industry in Jiangsu province released by the Jiangsu Province Sports Bureau, all of the 116 surveyed sports venues closed for nearly three months, 125 fitness and training companies closed for three and a half months, and sports supplies manufacturing enterprises closed for about a month and a half.
All seven ski resorts in Chongli district of Hebei province were suspended at the beginning of this year, and Thaiwoo Ski Resort was one of them.
Nie Ningning, vice president of the ski resort, described this as the biggest crisis since its opening.
"Before January 18, we had an average daily income of two million yuan (about 306. thousand U.S. dollars), an 80 percent increase over the same period last year," recalled Nie. But good days didn't last and the huge maintenance costs added a lot of pressure.
A staff member at Taiwoo Ski Resort operates the ice-making machine to get ready for the skiing season on October 17, 2020. (Photo by Wu Diansen/Xinhua)
Several local governments provided supporting measures to the resumption of work, helping the sports companies survive the difficult period. Some provinces and regions issued sports consumption vouchers to boost the rapid recovery of the sports consumption market.
Chongli District introduced seven specific measures, such as tax cuts, and water and electricity subsidies, to help the ski resorts to tide over the difficulties. Some ski resorts are also digging in the summer market, looking for a turning point.
Thaiwoo Ski Resort successively hosted a series of activities from July to October.
"Although the summer operation period was three months shorter than usual, our summer revenue is basically flat with last year," said Nie.
The new snow season also had a good start, as the number of visitors and revenue in November increased by more than 50 percent, compared with the same period last year.
"Everything is in order, and I believe the new snow season will be a good turnaround," said Nie.
Coaches at a fitness club in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu province, had an outdoor demonstration class on May 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Han Yuqing)
The epidemic also made more people focus on fitness and health, which helped boost the sales of fitness equipment.
According to the 2020 Research Report on Public Fitness Behaviors and Consumption released in September, fitness behaviors and consumption related to sports goods at home all increased significantly.
The total profit of the home fitness equipment industry reached 610 million yuan from January to May, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from relevant institutions.
"The sales of fitness equipment has been increasing. According to the Suning platform, sales of dumbbells, hula hoops, and yoga mats increased by more than 300 percent over the same period of 2019," said Liu Fumin, director of the Department of Sports Economics of China General Administration of Sport.
Liu is confident in the future. "The sports industry has been influenced, but at the same time, the Chinese economy is still moving ahead, and the Chinese sports industry is still developing," he said.
"I'm sure that the sports industry will play a more important role in the Chinese economy in the future." ■
