Hu Deping: Promoting the High-Quality Development of National Fitness Programs

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the cause of national fitness, positioning it as a vital component of the comprehensive buildup of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. They have regarded the enhancement of the people's physical fitness and the safeguarding of the people's health as an important aspect of building a modern socialist country in all respects. Through systematic planning and the profound implementation of the national strategy for national fitness, the cause of national fitness has developed in depth, writing a brand-new chapter in the dictum that "a strong nation begins with strong sports."

1. The cause of national fitness is flourishing, leading a new trend of healthy living among the masses.

From "Village Super" ^[1] and "Village BA" ^[2] to "Su Super," ^[3] a primary reason these sports events have become so popular is universal participation. With the implementation of the national strategy for national fitness, the concept of everyone participating in sports and everyone loving fitness has continuously taken root. The wave of national fitness in our country is surging and flourishing, adding new momentum to the construction of a leading sporting nation and a "Healthy China."

National fitness is "coming alive," and mass participation has increased significantly. In recent years, Party committees and governments at all levels have thoroughly implemented the national strategy for national fitness. They have continuously improved a work mechanism characterized by government leadership, social synergy, public participation, and legal safeguards. By increasing the supply of national fitness venues and facilities, extensively organizing national fitness events, stimulating the vitality of social sports organizations, and creating a social atmosphere for national fitness, the cause has flourished. Statistics show that by the end of 2024, there were 4.8417 million sports venues nationwide, covering an area of 4.23 billion square meters, with a per capita sports area of 3.0 square meters. The accessibility, convenience, and scientific nature of national fitness have significantly improved. In 2024, approximately 317,000 community games and other grassroots events were uploaded via the national fitness information service platform, with over 53.27 million participants. More and more regions are "bringing events to the masses' doorstep," transforming national fitness from a national strategy into a tangible and accessible livelihood benefit at the people’s gate.

National fitness is "integrating," and the depth of developmental fusion is continuously increasing. By deepening the integration of sports with education, health, and tourism, national fitness is organically combined with basic welfare services such as childcare, elderly care, and medical treatment. It is deeply integrated with the cause of universal health, with its health dividends becoming increasingly prominent. According to statistics, in 2024, China's regular national physical fitness monitoring covered 31 provinces for the first time. Through 375 regular monitoring stations, physical fitness testing and scientific fitness guidance services were provided to a cumulative 331,900 people. Throughout the year, more than 1.25 million people participated in activities meeting the National Physical Training Standards, with an overall pass rate of 89.89%. Meanwhile, many places across the country launched activities such as "traveling with the tournament," and young people have initiated new ways to play involving "sports + socializing." Various "cross-border" integration activities have ushered in a "boundary-breaking" era for national fitness.

National fitness is "becoming new," and the trendiness of sports is more manifest. In recent years, the wide rise of trendy sports such as ice and snow sports, water sports, mountain outdoor sports, e-sports, and extreme sports—along with the development of modern technology that enhances the intelligence, interactivity, and fun of fitness equipment—has made the internationalization, specialization, leisure, and entertainment of sports events and activities a major trend. National fitness activities are exhibiting a "sports aesthetic," which not only leads new fashions in modern life but also increasingly stimulates new momentum for sports consumption, continuously giving rise to more new sports products, business formats, and models.

2. Focusing on improving the quality of people's lives and perfecting the public service system for national fitness.

The Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese-path Modernization, deliberated and adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, explicitly proposed to "perfect the public service system for national fitness." This is a strategic deployment for further deepening reform in the field of sports from the height of the overall development of the Party and the state's undertakings, pointing out the reform direction for promoting the high-quality development of national fitness.

Focusing on the basic content of national fitness public services, we must advance the construction of a public service standard system. In recent years, as national fitness has risen to the status of a national strategy, and with the in-depth implementation of the Regulations on National Fitness and the National Fitness Plan (2021–2025), the basic content of national fitness public services has become increasingly clear. The service connotations involving venues, activities, events, guidance, and organizations have become more substantial, and the people's sense of gain and satisfaction has continuously increased. However, it must also be seen that the degree of standardization of national fitness public services is not high enough, and regional differences remain relatively large. To this end, we need to follow the National Basic Public Service Standards (2023 Edition) and the Work Plan for the Construction Project of the Basic Public Service Standard System to deeply promote the construction of a basic public service standard system for national fitness. On the basis of national standards for basic public services, we must increase the effective supply of industrial standards in the sports field, refine local standards for the implementation of national fitness basic public services, and promote the standardized construction of grassroots national fitness service institutions.

Focusing on the systems and mechanisms of national fitness public services, we must advance the construction of a public service institutional system. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee explicitly stated that "we must persist in doing our best within our means, improve the basic public service institutional system, strengthen the construction of inclusive, basic, and bottom-line livelihood projects, and solve the most immediate and realistic interest problems of the greatest concern to the people, continuously satisfying the people's aspirations for a better life." National fitness is a livelihood project. We should dynamically adjust the content, categories, and standards of national fitness public services according to the changes in the fitness needs of the Chinese people in the New Era. We must continuously expand the connotation and extension of services, keep optimizing resource allocation, standardize service processes, and improve service quality. We must build a basic system, operational system, and safeguard system for national fitness public services that is compatible with Chinese-path modernization and matches the needs of the people, effectively improving the quality and efficiency of the supply.

Focusing on the supply methods of national fitness public services, we must advance the construction of a public service safeguard system. We should promote the combination of a "proactive government" and an "effective market," highlighting the government's role in guaranteeing basics and providing a safety net in the supply of national fitness basic public services. We should give full play to market mechanisms while encouraging and stimulating social forces to actively participate in the construction of the national fitness public service system. We must improve diversified investment mechanisms and promote the diversification of service providers and methods to meet the diverse, multi-level, and multi-faceted fitness needs of the masses.

3. Based on consolidating the foundation of people's health, promoting the high-quality development of national fitness.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "In building a leading sporting nation and a Healthy China, the most fundamental thing is to enhance the people's physical fitness and safeguard their health. This is an important aspect of building a modern socialist country in all respects." This year is the concluding year of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the year for planning the 15th Five-Year Plan. The National Fitness Plan (2021–2025) has achieved good results over the past five years, and relevant national departments are currently working on the formulation of the National Fitness Plan (2026–2030). Looking toward the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the cause of national fitness must adhere to serving the construction of a leading sporting nation and a Healthy China. With the goal of consolidating the foundation of people's health, and with satisfying the people's aspirations for a better life as the starting point and end goal, we must take high-quality development as the main line. We will further perfect the national fitness public service system and make active contributions to comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.

Adhere to a problem-oriented approach and work hard on solving difficult problems. It should be fully recognized that there are still some shortcomings and weaknesses in China's current national fitness work, and there is still a certain gap from the people's new requirements for national fitness and new expectations for a better life. In national fitness public services, there are still contradictions of unbalanced and inadequate development between urban and rural areas, regions, groups, and projects. The inclusive, accessible, basic, and bottom-line nature of national fitness public services is still insufficient, and structural contradictions such as scattered resources and insufficient momentum restrict the high-quality development of the national fitness cause. Promoting high-quality development requires effectively solving questions such as "where to go for fitness," "where the organization is," "whether activities are good," "whether events are excellent," and "whether guidance is accurate." We must further break down the institutional and mechanistic obstacles restricting high-quality development and continuously improve the quality of national fitness.

Adhere to overall planning and coordination, and work hard on balance and accessibility. On the one hand, with the promotion of equal opportunity as the core, we should further optimize resource allocation, continuously narrow the gap in national fitness public services between urban and rural areas, regions, and groups, and effectively improve the level of equalization of national fitness public services. On the other hand, with precise matching of supply and demand as the focus, and with the help of technological empowerment such as Large Language Models (LLMs), big data, and cloud computing, as well as digital governance methods, we should continuously enhance the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability of national fitness public services. We must ensure that national fitness public services are conveniently reachable in space, accurately matched in content, and diversified in supply methods, effectively improving the sense of experience in national fitness public services.

Adhere to synergy and linkage, and work hard on integrated development. As a national strategy, national fitness cannot be a "self-circulation" or "small circulation" within the narrow circle of sports. We must give full play to the comprehensive value and multi-functional roles of national fitness in improving the people's health level, promoting all-around human development, driving economic and social development, and demonstrating the country's cultural soft power. We must adhere to the integrated development concept of "Sports+" and "+Sports," realizing a "large circulation" and mutual promotion between national fitness and other industries and fields. Using the integration of sports with medicine, health, industry, education, culture, commerce, and tourism as a starting point, we should continuously promote the deep integration of national fitness and universal health. We will create new business formats for the integrated development of national fitness, so that after "coming alive" and "becoming popular," national fitness can truly "become strong."