Fuzhou, capital of Southeast China's Fujian province, set up its first e-sports association on Wednesday as part of its efforts to embrace the thriving e-sports market in the country.

According to the 2017 China Game Industry Report released by Penguin Intelligence in June, the market value of China's e-sports sector reached 20 billion yuan (about $3 billion) generated by gamers' spending, copyright distribution, merchandizing and e-commerce. And the number of registered online gamers jumped to 220 million in 2017 from 170 million in 2016.

However, compared to first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, where relatively complete e-sport industry chains have already formed, Fuzhou is still at its beginning. Under such circumstances, the association was considered desirable.

It is set to play an active role in boosting the development of the e-sport industry in Fuzhou and perhaps in the whole province, according to Wang Bing, secretary-general of the association.

Part of its plan is to seek partnerships with businesses or clubs in the industry and play host to high-end competitive gaming tournaments while cultivating more talents in the sector, Wang revealed.

China's thriving e-sports industry sees a boom in 2017 as the competitive gaming sector continued to take the nation by storm. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]