SPORTS> China
Aug 8 named fitness day to promote sports
By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-14 07:33

The first anniversary of the Beijing Olympic Games will be celebrated nationwide on Aug 8 with music and dance but the date will also be used every year to promote physical activity.

The State Council, the Cabinet, has named Aug 8 as the National Fitness Day, starting this year, the State General Administration of Sport said Tuesday.

"The move is to meet people's need for doing sports and to further help promote sports among people," sports minister Liu Peng said.

"At the same time, it is also the best way to commemorate the day the Chinese realized their century's Olympic dream."

Aug 8 edged out other dates to become the National Fitness Day, Liu said, since "the successful hosting of the Olympic Games raised people's attention to sports to an unprecedented level and also left a rich legacy for China".

The government announced its national fitness program in 1995 and has increased its spending on public sports facilities since then.

A survey conducted by the administration released at the end of 2008 showed that people's awareness about health has improved greatly after 2001, when Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

The survey also said that about 340 million people exercised regularly last year and 250 million of them spent an average of 593 yuan ($88) on sports or sports-related activities. A record 28.2 percent of the population spent more than 30 minutes doing physical training at least three times a week.

Officials said the National Fitness Day would be a great way to promote physical well-being.

"The arrangement for the activities on the National Fitness Day will focus on the mass participation of people and offer solid facilities and services for people," Sheng Zhiguo, head of Sports for All Department under the administration, said.

(China Daily 01/14/2009 page3)