For many residents in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, vacant lots or underused spaces beneath overpasses are no longer forgotten corners of the urban landscape. Today, some of these areas have been transformed into neighborhood sports facilities, where children play basketball after school, older residents take evening strolls and families gather for exercise close to home.

Such projects reflect the direction set out in China's blueprint for building a leading sports nation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), the country's first national-level specialized plan dedicated to the goal of building a sports powerhouse. Detailed at a State Council Information Office press conference on Thursday, the blueprint sets targets not only for elite sports but also for public fitness, sports consumption and youth development, as China works toward its long-term goal of becoming a sports powerhouse by 2035.

Bringing fitness closer to communities

One of the plan's priorities is expanding access to grassroots sports facilities.

By 2030, China aims to raise per capita sports venue space to around 4 square meters and the proportion of residents who exercise regularly to about 40%. The plan also calls for building or upgrading more than 5,000 small and micro sports parks, neighborhood fitness centers, multi-purpose sports grounds and public ice rinks.

In Jiangxi Province, "pocket sports parks" have been made a key public wellbeing project. In 2025, the province completed its first batch of 40 such parks, converting previously unused urban spaces into basketball courts, badminton courts, fitness trails and other facilities that local authorities say serve about 1.09 million nearby residents.

In Yuhua District in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province, idle stilt-floor spaces in residential compounds have been transformed into smart fitness centers, with four such centers offering round-the-clock access for a flat monthly fee of 25 yuan (about $3.7).

A 7-trillion-yuan sports economy

The new plan also highlights sports as a driver of economic growth.

China has set a goal of expanding the sports industry's total value beyond 7 trillion yuan (about $1.04 trillion) by 2030, supported by sectors ranging from sporting events and outdoor recreation to fitness services and sports manufacturing.

The dividends are increasingly visible at the local level. In Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, the grassroots football tournament known as the Village Super League, or "Cun Chao," has evolved into a major tourism draw. Fueled by the tournament, the county received approximately 5.06 million visitor trips in the first half of 2026, up 7.2% year on year, generating 5.255 billion yuan in tourism-related spending. What began as a local football competition has since inspired similar community-based sporting events across the country, from basketball to road running.

China remains the world's largest exporter of sporting goods, accounting for more than 40% of global exports, according to the General Administration of Customs. In the first half of 2026, exports of sporting goods and equipment reached 67.53 billion yuan, customs data show.

Beyond export volumes, Chinese manufacturers are also reaching the top tier of global motorsport: Chongqing-based Junchi Motorcycle, which develops and builds its own engines and racing bikes, is set to become the first Chinese factory team to compete in the FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP), lining up alongside established global manufacturers at the Shanghai round next week.

Investing in the next generation

Another key pillar of the plan is youth development.

Chinese authorities have pledged to deepen the integration of sports and education, curbing childhood obesity and myopia, improving physical fitness and mental well-being, and strengthening pathways for future athletic talent.

In Chongqing, one of China's first national pilot zones for promoting adolescents' physical and mental health through sports, schools run a coordinated family-school-community model that uses AI-powered visual recognition technology to build long-term databases tracking students' physical and psychological health. According to local authorities, pilot schools have reported declines in abnormal physical fitness indicators among students.

Shanghai, meanwhile, has focused on youth talent pipelines through its "through-train" training system linking primary, middle and high schools. For the 2025–2027 cycle, the city has laid out 129 municipal-level and 268 district-level programs covering athletics, swimming, football and other sports, while its major youth sports events draw more than 1 million participants each year.

From neighborhood fitness parks and community gyms to grassroots sporting events and youth training programs, the new blueprint presents a vision of sports that extends well beyond stadiums and medal tables. As China advances toward its 2035 sports powerhouse goal, the plan places equal emphasis on public well-being, economic development and opportunities for future generations.