Faster, higher, stronger. The Olympic motto could well be the driving force for the fitness industry.

With the 1,000-day countdown to the 2008 Beijing Games providing fresh inspiration, the industry is, indeed, scaling new heights.

Growth in China has been racing along at an annual 30 per cent rate over the last decade, compared to a global average of 20 per cent. This is at a time when the nation's gross domestic product growth averaged 8 to 9 per cent.

As lifestyles change, seemingly by the day, sports and fitness have seeped into the Chinese consciousness as businesses are discovering.

There is no need for a one-size-fits-all strategy in China's recreational sports industry, says Huang Shengjian, founder of the Hong Kong-based Asian Academy for Sports and Fitness Professionals.

The diverse economic and cultural conditions across many regions ensure that all fitness enthusiasts can find their niche, from traditional Chinese martial arts to modern Latin dance, and from yoga to extreme sports, he says.

The fitness segment is a key component of the sports industry, accounting for about a third of the US$15 billion spent annually. Health clubs, which rake in about two-thirds of the money spent on fitness, are sprouting up at an astonishing rate; there are about 100,000 registered around the country.

Most of them target mid- to high-income earners between 18 and 50 who are eager to pursue a healthy and fashionable lifestyle.

Beijing's first private fitness club, Nirvana, was set up in 2001. It now has five outlets throughout the capital, and two of them franchised. It plans to open another in the city and one in Dalian, a coastal city in Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Nirvana president Li Bin says about 22,000 club members regularly work out. Its flagship gym occupies 3,000 square metres and is located near Beijing's East Third Ring Road, near a cluster of high-grade office buildings. It is usually packed to full capacity with about 800 fitness enthusiasts most evenings.

Fang Peiyu, 25, spends two hours three times a week at Nirvana. She pays 5,500 yuan (US$679) for an annual membership. That's equivalent to her monthly salary. It's worth it, she says, because "health is priceless."

The largest overseas-funded fitness chain is CSI-Bally Total Club, which was launched in May 2002 and currently operates 13 outlets across China.

"We plan to open 10 to 15 new clubs nationwide this year," says Wan Lihua, board chairman of the gym. Sources close to the chain say membership growth is estimated at 100 to 200 per cent annually.

A survey by well-known market research and consulting firm Horizon indicates that sports spending in six major cities stood at 534 yuan (US$64) per capita in 2003, with Beijing ranked first at 888 yuan (US$110).

The primary reason to go on a fitness regimen is to stay healthy, said 71 per cent of respondents in the survey, which covered 1,639 people aged between 18 and 60 in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Changsha and Taiyuan.

Not all health clubs are restricted to downtown areas, affluent suburbs or relatively well-heeled consumers. There are many community sports clubs catering to urban neighbourhoods and charging 1,000 (US$123) to 1,500 yuan (US$185).

Lu Yueyan, 28, who worked as instructor for about seven years at foreign-funded fitness chain Bodywork-impulse, started her own fitness centre in July, in collaboration with a residential community neighbouring Tsinghua University.

"With my professional experience at Bodywork-impulse and the affordable prices for middle-income earners, running the fitness centre is not difficult," Lu tells China Business Weekly confidently, adding that expansion to other communities is under consideration.

Research by China Sports Industry International, one of the country's pioneer sports operation and marketing consulting companies, found that annual sports spending by Chinese consumers is less than 100 yuan (US$12) per capita, in comparison with US$300-500 in the United States and advanced European nations.

The stark contrast and the great potential explain why people like Lu and foreigners with experience and expertise are keen to cash in on the market, says Fan Zheng, director of the marketing office affiliated with the Beijing Bureau of Sport.

Quite a few international brands, including US-based Bally Total, Bodywork-impulse, Power House, and Hong Kong's Haosha, have an established presence on the mainland.

Whether foreign or domestic, one challenge health clubs face is a shortage of qualified instructors and experienced managers.

Lu, who graduated from Beijing Sport University, says that when she was a student, she and her classmates often worked as part-time trainers in the capital's fitness centres.

"Even now, some of them who have unrelated jobs still do part-time work or act as private consultants, either because of money or out of personal interest," she says.

The money isn't bad. Instructors typically graduates, or veteran and former professional athletes make between 3,000 yuan (US$370) and 6,000 yuan (US$741). This is much higher than the average income of less than 1,000 yuan (US$123) per capita in major cities.

They simply can't make up the numbers, however. Health club operators claim that the "right people" - qualified instructors with service-awareness, consultants or managerial talent - are hard to find.

In 2002, the China Body Building Association (CBBA) issued the Body Building Professionals Grading Regulations to classify fitness coaches into four categories in line with their professional education background and experience.

"However, even in Beijing, there are only about 1,000 certified practitioners compared with about 20,000 trainers excluding part-timers in various fitness centres," says Huang, attributing the shortage to poor promotion and inadequate government support.

This year, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the General Administration of Sport are jointly promoting the Specific Sports Professional Qualification Certification Programme . The national standard system will be a compulsory employment requirement for fitness coaches.

The measure will also help China's fitness industry keep up with the international market and should attract foreign clientele or facilitate overseas expansion.

These professional certifications have been around in developed nations for decades. Certificates of the US National Academy of Sports Medicine and Finland-based Federation of International Sports Aerobics and Fitness are the most internationally recognized.

the industry also faces another challenge.

Weights and treadmills are apparently, not enough to keep patrons interested. Upscale health clubs are increasingly incorporating yoga, Latin dancing and kickboxing to keep the cash register ringing.

Customers at upscale health clubs are not just looking to keep fit. They also want entertainment and comfort, insiders say. Instructors need to be professionally qualified, have sound communication skills, and be able to provide tailored services.

Li of Nirvana points out that recruiting personnel with professional knowledge and managerial skills is even tougher than finding qualified instructors.

CSI-Bally Total Fitness Club Co Ltd, a joint venture between US-based Bally Total Fitness and China Sports Industry Co Ltd, a Shanghai-listed State-owned sports conglomerate, faces similar headaches, acknowledges Jin Shan, director of business development.

To fill the void, sports universities in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenyang have opened the sports management department in recent years. Officials say their graduates are highly sought.

(China Daily 11/14/2005 page1)