The city of Jinjiang in southeast China’s Fujian Province has made great efforts in recent years to promote the integrated development of culture, sports and tourism and establish itself as China’s sports capital at the earliest opportunity. After four years, the 2023 International University Sports Federation (FISU) University Football World Cup, the world’s premier student football competition, recently opened again in Jinjiang.
With the improvement of the level of sports competitions, Jinjiang has promoted the integrated development of cultural and sports tourism with events, Vice Mayor Wu Zunyi said. As one of the first national sports and fitness demonstration cities in China, Jinjiang pays special attention to promoting the interactive development of popular sports, competitive sports and the sports industry.
The city has also strengthened the driving effect of leading sports enterprises and promoted the transformation and upgrading of companies such as Anta Sports and 361 Degrees Int. Currently, the city is home to more than 20 Chinese sports brands and 33 well-known international sports brands, according to its own figures. According to Wu, the total output value of the sports industry in Jinjiang has exceeded 250 billion yuan renminbi (€32.4bn), and the value-added accounts for nearly a quarter of the city’s GDP. The number of employees in relevant industries has reached 333,000, he said.
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