BEIJING, June 25 (ABC): Chinese lawmakers on Friday passed a revision to the country’s sports law, in a bid to facilitate efforts to build the country into a sporting powerhouse.
The revised Law on Physical Culture and Sports was passed at a session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and will take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
The revision is the first comprehensive and systematic revision since the law’s initial enforcement in 1995.
Chapters of “Social Sports” and “School Physical Education” were renamed “National Fitness” and “Youth and School Sports” respectively, to reflect China’s primary concern of public and youth fitness strategy.
The act pointed out that local governments are responsible for providing sports facilities and activities, and a sports advisor system is promoted nationwide. The law dictates that students are promised at least one hour’s daily exercise at school, and public sports infrastructures are advocated to open to schools for holding mandatory annual sports events.
For professional sports, chapters of “Competitive Sports”, “Anti-Doping” and other contents addressed the issues of athlete rights protection, fair competition and professional sports system development.
The “Competitive Sports” chapter reinforces the protection of intellectual properties generated in domestic events such as logos, mascots and flags.
In the chapter on “Anti-Doping”, China encourages research on anti-doping science and technology and promotes advanced anti-doping technologies, equipment and methods.
“Sports Industry”, “Sports Arbitration” and “Supervision and Management” were added to the Sports Law, aiming to regulate the sports industry and the sports arbitration system and enlarge the effect of sports as a driving force for economic and social development.
The act clearly states that the country will formulate a development plan for the sports industry, expanding the scale of the sports industry and enhancing the vitality of the sports industry to meet the diverse sports needs of the people.
Innovative sports wearing and service businesses are encouraged as the qualified industries will be applied subsidies in finance, tax deductions, abating rents and other forms.
China has been pushing for changes to its Sports Law since planning to amend it in September 2018, and it has been through three deliberations until the passing of the revised Sports Law.