Editor's note: Wang Yuxiong is a professor at the School of Sports Economics and Management of Central University of Finance and Economics. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
As the largest multi-sporting event in Asia, the Asian Games not only provides a platform for high-level athletes from participating countries to compete on the same stage, but also promotes cultural exchanges and strengthens friendship between the people. Equally important, like all kinds of mega sports events, the Asian Games also play an important role in promoting the economic and social development of host cities. Besides Hangzhou, the 19th Asian Games is co-hosted by Ningbo, Wenzhou, Jinhua, Shaoxing, and Huzhou. Considering that most of these cities have a high level of internationalization and are export-oriented, the Asian Games will likely play an important role in promoting cross-border investment and trade in goods and services. This means that promoting closer economic and trade relations between China and Asian countries will be one of the most important legacies of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The Asian Games will further enhance Hangzhou's international status as a famous tourist destination. With attractive natural and cultural resources, Hangzhou's tourism industry is highly developed. Meanwhile, Hangzhou is a modernized city. The green and intelligent urban operation concept and lifestyle make the city full of vitality, attracting a large number of tourists every year.
With the hosting of the Asian Games, Hangzhou's visibility in Asia will be further enhanced, so will its charm be fully displayed in front of people from different countries. This will further enhance the city brand as an international tourism destination.
The Asian Games will further promote the trade in goods between China and Asian countries. As mentioned earlier, the host and co-host cities of the 19th Asian Games are well-known for international ports, world-class small commodity distribution center and advanced manufacturing highlands, making them influential hubs for trade in goods. The hosting of the Asian Games will further strengthen their position in the global trade of goods, helping the manufacturing industry of Zhejiang Province, and even the whole country, to improve competitiveness worldwide.
The Asian Games will also further enhance Hangzhou's attractiveness to international capital. The Games has adopted the "zero waste" concept and vowed to incorporate "green" and "smart" elements into the event. From the carbon-free opening ceremony to stadiums with smart recognition systems, among other application of digital technologies, the Games are expected to raise the level of greenness and intelligence in the organization of mega sports events to a new height. It is also reasonable to believe that implementation of these advanced technologies in future industrial development and urban operations will be accelerated.
With the Asian Games as a platform, Hangzhou will be able to demonstrate to Asian countries the high level of its green development and highly-developed digital economy represented by 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, etc. This will enhance Hangzhou's efforts to build itself into an international investment destination.