ABSTRACT
Mass sports is a key component of sports policy in China. Whilst research attention on mass sports tends to focus on health-related outcomes, few studies have investigated the function of mass sports in contributing to economic development, and how economic pursuits have subsequently ramified mass sports provision and sport participation opportunities. Li Dunhou, the then deputy director of the Sport Economics Department of the General Administration of Sport, predicted in 1999 that ‘the sport market will become a simulator of domestic consumption and economic growth’. A synergistic approach to the development of the sports industry and the stimulation of sports consumption through national fitness added policy momentum to mass sports development. A portion of the price residents paid for fitness and sports services was compensated by the government in the form of coupons or sports consumption awards.
