More efforts to be made to promote China-ASEAN cooperation, says CISS chief

China is going to keep communication with ASEAN members to promote further cooperation in physical fitness and health areas, according to the head of China's top sports institute.

Cao Jingwei, president of the China Institute of Sport Science, told China Daily in an exclusive interview that China and ASEAN countries are discussing to build a stable mechanism to promote the exchanges in academic and people-to-people levels.

"China and ASEAN countries have scattered cooperation in the field of physical fitness and health promotion, and have not yet carried out systematic and institutionalized cooperation," Cao said, adding that the two sides should establish a platform for long-term coordination.

To promote the China-ASEAN practical cooperation, the CISS upheld the 1st China-ASEAN International Conference on Physical Fitness and Health Promotion on Friday and Saturday.

About 200 participants, including officials, experts from China and ten Southeast Asian countries, and representatives from the ASEAN-China Center and World Health Organization, attended the conference. Officials from China and ASEAN countries delivered keynote reports and shared their countries' practices and experiences in promoting national physical fitness and health.

During the conference, officials from China and ASEAN countries reached preliminary will of cooperation on regular academic exchanges, regular international academic conferences on promoting national physique and health and joint publication of China ASEAN national physique monitoring reports, Cao said.

Founded in 1958, The CISS has conducted five surveys on national physical fitness every five years, which have provided insights into the primary conditions and trends in the physical fitness of the Chinese people and served as a crucial foundation for the scientific-based formulation of policies related to the improvement of national physical fitness.

According to latest survey of the CISS, the physical condition of rural residents has been improved outstandingly in the past decade thanks to the improvement of sports facilities in China's rural areas.

The conclusion is based on the survey of more than 200,000 people from 1,732 government offices, enterprises, public institutions, schools, kindergartens and administrative villages across the country.

Aiman Som, a physiotherapist from the Sports Medicine and Research Center of Brunei, told China Daily that China's experience in promoting the people's health could be learned by countries of Association of Southeast Asian Nations, most of which also have a large rural population.

"China is very well dedicated to improving its national physical condition. With that excellence, we can cooperate to develop each other's country's national physical condition," Aiman said.