ABSTRACT
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chinese women have made tremendous achievements in sports. After the Chinese Communist Party achieved national power and established the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the communists promised that a new China would embrace gender equality. Communists believed that women's emancipation could only be realised after women were involved in large-scale social production instead of being restricted to the family and the home. The widespread development of women's sports in the early days of PRC laid a solid mass foundation for Chinese women to enter the international sports arena. Sports is conceptualised as an important element for creating a healthy lifestyle rather than a political performance. The modified social system has encouraged the spontaneous and diversified forms of women's participation in sports and athletics. Sports participation as a public activity was promoted extensively among women with specifically economic, political, and social intentions.
