A natural opportunity for growth

Official stats have backed up Yang's sentiment.

According to an industry report released at the conference by the sports economy department of the General Administration of Sport of China, as of the beginning of April, outdoor sports activities had engaged over 400 million Chinese people, meaning one in every three people participates in such exercises regularly.

Chinese business operators remain bullish on the sector's continued growth potential, with about 24,000 new enterprises registered as outdoor sports products and service providers in the first half of 2025, according to the report, taking the total number of such companies to 335,000 by the end of June.

The numbers might sound dull, but the bustling scenes of young people suiting up at ski resorts in Zhangjiakou, Beijing 2022's co-host in Hebei province, to enjoy a downhill adrenaline rush on the slopes this week offered seemingly incontrovertible testimony to their veracity.

Or just go back a few months to see how tough it was to find a spot on the banks of downtown Beijing's Liangma River, where locals and expats turned the city waterway into a hot spot for paddleboarding, kayaking and other water sports, seeking relief from the capital's scorching summer heat.

"Outdoor sports have become a key drive for stimulating consumption in the sports and tourism sectors, and have been embraced by more Chinese people as a lifestyle and a platform for socializing," explained Yang Xuedong, director of the GASC's sports economy department, during the opening ceremony of the conference in Dali.