Sports reform aims to enable more public participation

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China’s sports reform aims to enable the general public to participate and enjoy more sports activities, said Gou Zhongwen, minister of the General Administration of Sports of China on Monday.

“The reform measures will solve problems we often face in competitive sports, as well as fulfilling the demands in public sports,” said Gou.

Gou made the remarks at the “Ministers’ Corridor” of the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress, when he was asked to comment on the achievements and different voices in the process of the Chinese sports reform.

“A significant part of building China into a sports power is to enable each individual to participate and enjoy many sports activities, and to satisfy the public,” said Gou. “But it needs the strength of the whole society, instead of only the Sports Administration.”

Gou Zhongwen, minister of the General Administration of Sports of China, answering questions. /VCG Photo

He said the key word in the new reform is “opening-up”.

During the 2017 National Games in Tianjin, 19 events were opened to the public, with more than 7,000 non-professionals taking part.

Gou said in the future, there will be more sport events open to the public. Meanwhile, more professionals would be involved in the sports associations. And that national teams would be more open to local areas, clubs and enterprises.

He mentioned that athlete selection process for national teams should follow the principles of fairness, justice and transparency.

“Interferences from the leadership will be strictly forbidden,” he added.

Gou admitted that some of the measures have not been fully implemented, and he asked the public for more understanding and more time to fix the issue.

The sports minister also talked about the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, saying that China will fulfill its commitments of participating in all the 102 events.

He said it is not a, easy goal, but the performance and breakthroughs by Chinese athletes at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics are encouraging and inspiring.

Lu Yong, president of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF), answering questions. /VCG Photo

Lu Yong, president of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) also met press at Monday’s “Ministers’ Corridor”, where he talked on protecting the rights of disabled children during their rehabilitation and education.

“China has approximately 1.68 million disabled children under the age of six, and 220,000 of them are living in poverty,” said Lu, adding that the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government have introduced detailed plans to protect their legal rights.

Lu said the government has set up a database to follow the children as they grow up, and to guarantee their rights for education.

“For those living in remote rural areas and those who are severely disabled, we have measures such as bringing education to their doorsteps, or providing remote education,” said Lu. He admitted difficulties ahead when taking those measures in rural areas.

Lu called on the media for more attention on education for disabled children, and called for more volunteers to join the campaigns to help disabled people.

Lu also emphasized the importance of enhancing rehabilitation service and building the barrier-free environment.

“It requires the efforts of everyone in our society to enable disabled people live a decent life in our country and have a more independent lifestyle,” said Lu.

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