China sets five-year goal

The plan also calls for a comprehensive upgrade of China's State-run elite sports program, through management reform, more transparent talent selection and better scientific support, to help cement the country's status as a world-class contender at future Olympics and world championships.

In the next five years, together with education authorities and schools, more investment should be made at the youth level to encourage more participation, improve coaching and expand the talent pool at the grassroots level to help improve China's currently underperforming collective big-ball sports, such as soccer, basketball and volleyball.

At the elite level, reviving China's men's national soccer program, which has seen its senior side miss out on six consecutive FIFA World Cups, matters a lot for realizing the country's goal of becoming a true global sporting power by 2035, Gao Zhidan, director of the GASC, said in March during the two sessions.

The dominant presence of national programs in six strength events — badminton, table tennis, gymnastics, weightlifting, shooting and diving — should, of course, be maintained.

The plan also set a goal for the total value of the country's sports industry to surpass seven trillion yuan ($1.03 trillion) by the end of 2030, up from 3.84 trillion yuan in 2024, by further tapping potential in fitness services, sports entertainment and sports tourism.

Beyond the field of play, to foster a healthy sporting culture and combat "toxic" fandom, a long-term, multi-department, collaborative governance mechanism will be established to tackle online abuse and defamatory posts targeting athletes and coaches.