Reality and Dilemma: The Development of China's Sports Industry since the Implementation of the Reform and Opening-Up Policy

Abstract

This paper explores the history and development of China's sports industry, along with its achievements, prospects, problems, and dilemmas, beginning with the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy. The paper concludes that China's sports have been gradually transformed from a type of public welfare under the planned economy to a business under the market-oriented economy since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978. China's sports industry has gone through three stages, i.e. the exploratory stage (1978–1992), the formative stage (1993–1996), and the development stage (1997–present), and has achieved remarkable progress since the reform and opening-up. This has made the sports industry a new and significant economic growth point in China, constituting a sunrise industry of the twenty-first century. Despite the huge potential, the further development of China's sports industry is still faced with a series of problems and dilemmas, such as its unbalanced development, the lack of independent innovation, shortcomings in the policies and regulations of the industry, and the poor management system(s).