China's 14th National Games, the nation's largest national sports event held 
every four years, start on September 15 in Xi'an, home to the Terracotta 
Warriors, UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Games are expected to inject Xi'an, 
the provincial capital city and imperial capital of thirteen dynasties, with a 
massive dose of renewed vitality.

The hosting of the Games is expected to vastly increase the stature of the city 
in the international arena as a sports event of this importance is not simply a 
competition between several teams, but also a platform for communication and a 
stage for demonstration. By seizing strategic opportunities brought about by 
the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the construction of a new starting point 
of the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB), the city is accelerating the development 
of the sports sector. This will facilitate the integration and allocation of 
various sports resources with the goal of achieving the coordinated 
establishment and development of a series of sports-related industries across 
several provinces and regions, developing communications with countries around 
the world. 

To take an aggressive approach to building out a sports sector is a practical 
one in that it will serve to make the residents of Xi'an healthier and fitter, 
as well as enhance the populace's level of happiness and sense that they have 
really witnessed an improvement in their daily lives.

Xi'an has created enough fitness facilities so that every person living there 
has a place to engage in physical fitness. Since 2019, the city has built over 
10,000 exercise facilities across the city, meaning everyone resides no more 
than 15 minutes from one. As of March of this year, the city had installed 
4,280 exercise machines in Xi'an's rural communities for use by the area's 
agricultural workers, as well as having paved 2,200 public use jogging and 
biking lanes while already having staged enough national fitness activities 
that the annual number of such events should reach some 600 by the end of the 
year. The number of participants in physical activities of some form or another 
now accounts for 50 percent of the city's population, while the average workout 
area available has reached 2 square meters. 

Xi'an is also constructing several sports stadiums. The Xi'an Olympic Sports 
Center, to cite one example, has become a new urban landmark, while key sports 
facilities such as the Xi'an Sports Training Center, the Xi'an International 
Football Center and the Xi'an Water Sports Training and Competition Center are 
also either in the planning stage or already under construction. 

Between 2022 and 2025, more than 40 international and domestic sports events 
will be held in Xi'an every year. Two to three independent events tied to a 
single sports brand are expected to take place annually in the city by 2025, 
setting the wheels in motion for Xi'an to become a well-known, top-flight world 
sports capital by 2035.

SOURCE: Xi'an Municipal Government

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   Caption: Xi'an Stimulates Sports Sector Development, with Upcoming 14th 
National Games Serving as a Driver