Policy and Technology Dual Drivers: Sports Industry Embarks on a New Journey Toward 7 Trillion Yuan
A State Council policy document, AI coaches entering households, and the tennis China Season sweeping nine cities—in 2025, the sports industry is reshaping national healthy lifestyles with unprecedented speed and passion.
The General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Unleashing Sports Consumption Potential and Further Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Sports Industry," proposing that the total scale of the sports industry exceed 7 trillion yuan by 2030.
This document, containing 20 specific measures, is injecting strong momentum into the sports industry, promoting the deep integration of sports with healthcare, culture, tourism, and other sectors. It specifically proposes launching the "Data Elements × Sports" initiative to support the application of big data, artificial intelligence, and other new technologies in the sports field.
01 Policy Dividends: Seven Measures to Activate the Sports Consumption Market
This landmark document outlines a clear blueprint for the future development of the sports industry. The policy proposes 20 specific measures across three key areas: increasing the supply of sports products and services, stimulating demand for sports consumption, and promoting the integrated development of the sports industry.
To stimulate consumption demand, the policy encourages local governments to issue sports consumption vouchers, launch discount campaigns, and introduce innovative measures such as digital RMB sports consumption red envelopes. These measures directly target consumers, lowering the economic barrier to sports and fitness.
According to statistics, the added value of the national sports industry reached 1,491.5 billion yuan in 2023, accounting for 1.15% of GDP. Even more impressive is the average annual growth rate of the sports industry from 2021 to 2023, which reached 11.6%, demonstrating strong momentum for development.
02 Tech Empowerment: AI Intelligence Rewrites the Fitness Model
The sports technology company Keep showcased its self-developed sports health vertical large model, kinetic.ai, and the AI coach Kaka based on it. Currently, 80% of new courses on the Keep platform are generated by AI, enabling personalized fitness guidance.
"Our AI coach can capture users' movements in real-time through the camera and provide immediate corrective feedback, just like having a personal trainer by your side," said the technical of Keep. This technological breakthrough has significantly improved the effectiveness of home fitness.
At the recent Trade in Services Fair, technologies such as the "China Hawk-Eye" system, smart table tennis/tennis systems, and football VAR virtual offside lines were collectively showcased, demonstrating how technology can help audiences understand match decisions more clearly.
03 Event Economy: Tennis China Season Drives Consumption Boom
The period from September to October is the tennis season. This year, the Tennis Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China launched the "China Season" brand logo for the first time, with an unprecedented scale.
From mid-September to early November, the event will cover nine cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Jiujiang, and Hong Kong, hosting a total of nine tour stops. It is expected to attract over one million spectators on-site and drive related consumption, such as dining and accommodation, by more than 2 billion yuan.
The event committees of various tournaments have made comprehensive upgrades to the hardware facilities. The China Open replaced audience seats, and the Shanghai Masters installed a roof for Court No. 2. They also introduced various themed ticket packages, parent-child ticket packages, and cultural and tourism linkage discounts to enhance the experience.
04 Industrial Integration: New Sports Consumption Scenarios Continuously Emerge
Shanghai is becoming a "strategic home port" for global sports brands. From January to July 2025, Shanghai added 554 new stores, with many international brands choosing to launch their global new products here for the first time.
The flagship stores of sports brands have gone beyond simply selling products to focus on creating cultural experiences and community interaction spaces. Here, consumers can not only purchase products but also participate in various sports experience activities and theme community gatherings.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that it would promote the integrated innovation of sports equipment with new technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and virtual reality, develop smart sports equipment, and explore new immersive experience models.
05 Sports-Medicine Integration: Shifting from Passive Medical Treatment to Active Health
The Beijing Health Culture Promotion Association recently established the "Sports Health Risk Assessment Professional Committee," aiming to build a sports risk assessment and health promotion system and promote a shift from "passive medical treatment" to "active health."
The professional committee has launched sports risk detection and assessment services covering 5 dimensions and 45 indicators. In the future, it also plans to build a sports-medicine integrated service network of "hospities-communities-enterprises-venues" to make the concept of scientific sports deeply rooted in people's hearts.
"We hope that through scientific assessment, we can help everyone find the most suitable exercise method for themselves, avoid sports injuries, and truly achieve the goal of health promotion," said the director of the professional committee.