China is embarking on an ambitious plan to invigorate rural areas through sports, according to a new initiative spearheaded by the General Administration of Sport of China along with 12 other ministries. This initiative sets the goal to have more than 100 rural sports events in place by 2035 as a part of the country’s broader nationwide rural revitalization strategy.
Aiming to improve national fitness levels in rural regions by 2025, the initiative seeks to develop sports mechanisms that can stimulate rural revitalization. In line with this strategy, the plan is to create several exemplar sports events tailored for rural rejuvenation. The ultimate vision is to host over a hundred such events across the country, as reported by Xinhua News Agency on Monday.
A shining example of this initiative is already reaping benefits. A local grassroots football league, “Cunchao” or the Village Super Football League, based in Rongjiang county, located in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, has recently ignited immense popularity nationwide.
The unique allure of the Cunchao League lies in its simplicity. It features no professional players, ticket sales, or commercial advertisements, presenting football in its most authentic form. From Friday to Sunday, starting from May 13, vast crowds of spectators, reaching tens of thousands, have flocked to an open field to witness the games in a county of less than 400,000 inhabitants.
The Cunchao League is a melting pot of various ethnicities and professions, with players hailing from all walks of life, including vendors, construction workers, and couriers.
The grassroots league’s resounding success has not only garnered billions of online views but also attracted a surge of tourists drawn to the soccer games, local cuisine, and folk performances. Evidence of this boost in tourism can be seen in the data from China’s leading travel platform, qunar.com, which showed a staggering 15-fold increase in Rongjiang hotel reservations during the recent Dragon Boat Festival, compared to the same period in 2019.
Capitalizing on this newfound interest, local authorities have established a nighttime snack street, encouraging vendors to showcase their creativity, promote their businesses, and sell local agricultural specialties. This has resulted in a spike in local economic activity, encompassing catering, accommodation, and tourism.
Similar successes have been seen with the “Village Basketball Association” tournament, held in Taijiang county, Guizhou Province. This tournament attracted 181,900 visitors, contributing to a total tourism income of 55.16 million yuan ($7.63 million) and sparked a 140 percent year-on-year growth in tourism bookings within the county.
These examples clearly demonstrate how sports, whether soccer or basketball, can become a transformative instrument for rural revitalization, opening new avenues for economic growth and community engagement.
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