China's sports industry reached $294 billion in 2016

XIAMEN -- China's sports industry reached 1.9 trillion yuan ($294.1 billion) in 2016, 11.1 percent up from 2015, according to the data announced on Saturday.

The data was released by the General Administration of Sport and the National Bureau of Statistics during the National Sports Industry Conference in Xiamen. It shows the Chinese sports industry in 2016 had realized an added value of 647.5 billion yuan ($100.2 billion), 17.8 percent up from 2015, accounting for 0.9 percent of GDP in the year.

Among all the sectors, sports equipment manufacturing contributed most to the industry, taking up 62.9 percent of the volume and 44.2 percent of added value. Sports service recorded 35.9 percent of the scale and 55.0 percent of added value.

"It is estimated by 2025, the scale of the Chinese sports industry will be likely to reach the goal of 5 trillion yuan ($773.9 billion)," said Huang Haiyan, a sports industry expert from Shanghai Sports University.