Facts

Major non-olympic sports in China

Baseball and softball

Brought to China around 1840s by returned oversea students in Beijing and Shanghai, baseball slowly gained public recognition over more than 100 years until it was included in the first Chinese National Games in 1959. The development of baseball and its female version softball reached pinnacle before the 2008 Beijing Olympics when a seven-team professional league was held together with junior tournaments covering more than 200 amateur teams. Since excluded from the Olympic program in 2005, the game has been struggling to earn enough governmental support and investment.