Table of contents

  Introduction

Chapter 1: Pursuing the dream of a strong sports nation - the time and space coordinates of Xi Jinping’s important statements on sports

  1.1 Sports interpretation of the Chinese Dream

  1.2 China’s Road to Sports Development

Chapter 2: Compose a harmonious symphony together - the core of Xi Jinping’s important exposition on sports

  2.1 Complete Personality: Promoting the All-Round Development of People

  2.2 Creative Society: Adding impetus to economic and social development

  2.3 Confident Nation: Providing a strong spiritual force to unite the hearts and minds of the Chinese nation for its great rejuvenation

  2.4 Chinese Wisdom: People-oriented, harmonious coexistence

  2.5 Colorful World: Promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese civilization and other civilizations around the world

  Chapter 3: Promoting Historical Leap Forward: Practical Achievements of Xi Jinping’s Important Expositions on Sports

  3.1 Changes in the pattern: the three major drivers are running side by side

  3.2 System changes: the new national system is becoming more and more perfect

  3.3 Changes in the subject: universal participation gradually becomes a trend

  3.4 Change of mentality: open, confident and inclusive mindset of a great power

  3.5 Ecological Change: A fair, clean and clear environment that encourages innovation

Chapter 4: Writing a New Chapter for Humanity - The World Value of Xi Jinping’s Important Discussions on Sports

  4.1 Reference and integration: China has its own path to sports development

  4.2 Inclusion and cohesion: inspiring the power of sports to build a better world

  Conclusion

  Introduction

  Sports is a treasure of human civilization.

  On the land of China, Chinese civilization and sports culture interact with each other, playing a magnificent movement of the new era. A new era, a new journey, time has engraved China’s footsteps towards becoming a sports power, which are heavy and powerful; the world has witnessed China’s blueprint for building a sports power, which is gorgeous and colorful.

  In the new era, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has established a theoretical system with profound thoughts, high position and broad vision for China’s sports power construction in the strategic overall situation of building a strong country and national rejuvenation. With its unique characteristics and role, sports are deeply coordinated in the overall layout of "five in one" and the strategic layout of "four comprehensives", and have given new energy in the new era.

  Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports embody the ideological crystallization of the Chinese Communist Party’s sports work over the past century, open up a new realm for the development of Marxist sports theory and practice, and have profound historical roots and precious contemporary value.

  The report clarifies the logical relationship between the dream of building a strong sports nation and the Chinese dream, sorts out the theoretical results and practical achievements of China’s construction of a strong sports nation under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s important discourses on sports, summarizes the "5C" system of the basic framework of Xi Jinping’s important discourses on sports, describes the epoch-making changes in China’s vigorous promotion of the construction of a strong sports nation and a healthy China, and reveals the global significance of Xi Jinping’s important discourses on sports.

  China’s road to becoming a sports power is both historical and realistic; both specific and macroscopic; both Chinese and global. The dream of becoming a sports power and the Olympic dream are intertwined, jointly writing the sports chapter of Chinese modernization and paving the way for sports to promote the progress of human civilization.

  In the context of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, sports have become more widely connected with all aspects of society, profoundly changing people’s lifestyles in a subtle and unnoticed way. The construction of a strong sports nation is related to the happiness of the people, economic development, cultural prosperity, social harmony, and national rejuvenation. With the "three wings" of mass sports, competitive sports, and sports industry, the construction of a strong sports nation is steady and far-reaching. In the new era, the dream of a strong sports nation has been endowed with more profound and rich content.

  In the midst of the unprecedented changes in the world, the value of sports is extremely precious. Sports is a platform for cultural integration and a bridge for national communication. Through exchanges and mutual learning across national borders and cultures, sports help people from all over the world enhance mutual understanding and respect, and promote world peace and development. Sports enhance friendship, promote sharing, and improve governance. This is the inspiration that the Chinese sports development path brings to the world. China’s becoming a sports power has extraordinary significance for the development of world sports.

  China is a great country with lofty ambitions and the courage to be the first in the world. With the evolution of the times, Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports are still being enriched and developed, leading China and benefiting the world.

  Chapter 1: Pursuing the dream of a strong sports nation - the time and space coordinates of Xi Jinping’s important statements on sports

  When the brilliant fireworks bloomed in the night sky of Beijing, the words "One World, One Family" were written, and the packed "Bird’s Nest" became a sea of ​​passion, joy and friendship. At this moment, the 100-year Olympic dream and the 100-year dream of a strong nation, the new era of China and the great changes in the world, which were mutually stimulating, were all condensed on the stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

  When the heroic figures of Chinese athletes were displayed on the banks of the Seine, Paris, which welcomed the Olympic Games again after a century, had a different color because of China. With open minds, burning passions, and blooming dreams, the Chinese sports spirit and the Olympic spirit jointly composed a song of joy and played a new chapter for the evolution of human civilization.

  Sports are a precious treasure of all mankind, and becoming a sports power is the dream that the Chinese nation strives for on its road to rejuvenation. The sports dream of the Chinese nation embodies the desire of generations of Chinese people for national prosperity and national rejuvenation over the past century.

  In August 2024, when meeting with the Chinese sports delegation to the 33rd Olympic Games, Xi Jinping emphasized: "The outstanding achievements of the Chinese sports delegation are not only a concentrated reflection of the development and progress of my country’s sports industry, but also a microcosm of the achievements of China’s modernization construction, fully demonstrating the strength of China in the new era. When the country prospers, the sports industry prospers; when the country is strong, the sports industry is strong. The fundamental reason why my country can be among the world’s sports powers and Olympic powers is that its comprehensive national strength is constantly increasing, which provides advanced scientific and technological support and solid material guarantees for sports competitive training, and also creates a good growth environment and a broad mass base for sports talents in various fields to stand out. In the new era and new journey, comprehensively promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation with Chinese-style modernization will surely provide better conditions and inject strong impetus for the development of my country’s sports industry."

  Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, China in the new era is firmly striding towards becoming a sports powerhouse, composing a new symphony of the Olympics and national destiny, and ushering in a new era of mutual integration and mutual achievement between China and the world.

  1.1 Sports interpretation of the Chinese Dream

  Since the 18th CPC National Congress, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. This milestone has multi-dimensional significance: in terms of national rejuvenation, after a century of suffering, the Chinese nation has finally stood up, become rich, and become strong, and is closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than any period in history; in terms of building a strong country, China has achieved a comprehensive transformation and overall progress of society through economic, political, social, scientific, cultural, and educational development, and has put forward the goal of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, providing a Chinese solution to the world’s problems; in terms of human development, from theory to practice, China has explored a feasible path towards modernization for the world, a path that has both Chinese characteristics and world value, and is a precious asset for all mankind.

  National rejuvenation, national strength and human progress. In such a time and space coordinate, the sports dream has been given a more profound meaning. The connotation of sports has been unprecedentedly expanded to all aspects of society, and China’s construction of a sports power has entered a new historical stage.

  The struggle to build a strong sports nation reflects the improvement of China’s comprehensive national strength and the progress of social civilization. Sports development has always been closely linked to national development. A strong country is the foundation and guarantee of sports development, and strong sports are the sign and symbol of national prosperity. The dream of a strong sports nation is the sports expression of the Chinese dream.

  The dream of a strong sports nation is an important part of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Xi Jinping pointed out: "Sports carry the dream of a strong country and a rejuvenated nation. A strong sports nation means a strong China, and a prosperous country means a prosperous sports nation. We must put the development of sports on the important agenda, make careful plans, and implement them vigorously, constantly create a new situation for the development of my country’s sports industry, and accelerate the construction of my country into a strong sports nation."

  Guided by Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports, the development of China’s sports industry in the new era has ushered in a new situation. The public sports service system has been continuously improved, the proportion of sports population and the per capita sports venue area have been improved, and national fitness has become a national strategy; competitive sports have developed comprehensively, and winter and summer sports have shown a new situation of coordinated development; new sports formats have emerged in an endless stream, and the sports industry structure has become more reasonable; the professionalization reform of competitive sports has been accelerated, and the new national system combining the national system with the market mechanism has been improved. At the same time, anti-corruption in the sports world has been deepened, and anti-doping work has continued to achieve results. Through continuous self-supervision and self-revolution, the development of the sports industry has been steady and healthy in overcoming challenges.

  China is striding towards becoming a sports powerhouse and is constantly creating new forms of sports development in the Chinese way.

  1.2 China’s Road to Sports Development

  Rooted in the rich soil of Chinese civilization and integrating the excellent culture of world sports, the development path of Chinese sports has both its own particularity and the universality of sports. China has learned from and integrated with other civilizations in the world, and has taken a new path for sports development in learning and exchanges, becoming an important part of the development process of world sports.

  In the new era, the world is undergoing a major change that has not been seen in a century. China’s progress towards becoming a sports power is not only a further development of China’s own sports industry, but also has an immeasurable impact on the world today. Chinese sports are contributing to the development of world sports in their own way.

  ——United as one, sharing weal and woe

  On February 7, 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics, opening a new era of sports diplomacy for the Chinese head of state. Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Wuhan Military Games, Beijing Winter Olympics, Chengdu Universiade, Hangzhou Asian Games... Entering the new era, China has successively hosted international comprehensive sports games, opening windows to the world and building bridges. As the host, Xi Jinping attended related activities and delivered important speeches. In his speech at the welcome banquet for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Xi Jinping emphasized: "We should keep in mind the original intention of the Olympic movement and jointly safeguard world peace." "We should carry forward the spirit of the Olympic movement and unite to meet the common challenges of the international community." "We should practice the purpose of the Olympic movement and continue to promote the cause of human progress." In his speech at the welcome banquet for the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Xi Jinping pointed out that as a community with a shared future connected by mountains and seas and close humanities, we must promote peace through sports, adhere to good neighborliness and mutual benefit and win-win results, resist the Cold War mentality and camp confrontation, and build Asia into a stable anchor for world peace.

  ——Keep your word and keep your promise

  At the beginning of 2022, despite the still severe situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beijing Winter Olympics was held as scheduled, providing a safe, stable, cordial and friendly environment for nearly 3,000 athletes from 91 countries and regions. Whether it is the "simple, safe and wonderful" requirements for hosting the Games, or the "green, shared, open and clean" concept for hosting the Games; whether it is the Chinese wisdom in the construction and operation of the venues, or the Chinese plan for the use of the Winter Olympics heritage, all of them demonstrate China’s responsibility as a responsible major country and fulfill its solemn commitment to the international community.

  ——Open sharing, join hands for the future

  In June 2023, the opening ceremony of the training camp of the China Table Tennis Academy Papua New Guinea Training Center and the 2023 Shanghai Summer School (Table Tennis Project) was held in Shanghai. Geoffrey Roy, an athlete of the Papua New Guinea National Table Tennis Team, who spoke as a representative of the students, had previously come to the China Table Tennis Academy for training four times. The China Table Tennis Academy Papua New Guinea Training Center is the second international institution established by the China Table Tennis Academy after the European Branch. It has the functions of training high-level athletes, popularizing table tennis among the masses, and promoting table tennis culture overseas. In addition to overseas institutions, the China Table Tennis Academy also receives teams from different countries and regions for training. From the "ping pong diplomacy" in the 1970s to the "ping pong teaching" today, China has been practicing the proposition of building a community with a shared future for mankind through increasingly expanding sports exchanges, demonstrating the responsibility of a major country and setting a global example. According to the information reported by the General Administration of Sport of China in 2022, my country has established sports friendly relations with more than 180 countries and regions, and bilateral sports exchanges have become more active and pragmatic. The focus has been on deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with sports powers in Europe and the United States, winter sports powers in Northern Europe, and neighboring countries (regions) in the Asia-Pacific region to serve the work of the sports center; strengthening foreign sports aid, deepening sports technical cooperation through the provision of equipment, sending coaches abroad, training in China, etc., sharing sports development achievements with countries and regions in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and jointly promoting the development of sports... China is constantly expanding its "circle of friends" through sports exchanges, shaping a new pattern of sports foreign exchanges, and showing a new atmosphere in Chinese sports culture.

  Chapter 2: Compose a harmonious symphony together - the core of Xi Jinping’s important exposition on sports

  Theoretical innovation is the forerunner of development and change. Xi Jinping, standing in the strategic overall situation of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, has made top-level designs for several major relationships and basic issues in China’s sports in the new era, and has made profound expositions on the functional positioning, basic principles, goals and tasks, and practical requirements of the development of sports with Chinese characteristics in the new era. He has put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies, forming Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports. Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports are an important part of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the latest theoretical achievement of the Chinese Communists in leading sports work by using the "two combinations" as the "greatest magic weapon", and the fundamental guideline and action guide for the reform and development of sports in the new era.

  Sports is a high-level civilized activity of human beings. It penetrates into every cell of society and has a profound impact on people’s social life. With the pace of human beings moving from dispersion to aggregation, sports are increasingly becoming a global field that connects different regions, races, and cultures, and integrates society, culture, economy, and politics. From the perspective of humanities and social sciences, we believe that Xi Jinping’s important exposition on sports is a systematic, scientific, and complete theoretical system covering disciplines such as sociology, political science, economics, and anthropology. Its underlying logic is to start from the basic proposition that "sports is an important symbol of social development and human progress, and an important manifestation of comprehensive national strength and social civilization", incorporate the construction of a strong sports country into the grand system of building a strong country, and strive to build sports into a landmark cause for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The core essence is to take the construction of a sports power as the direction, promote sports reform and development, shape a "complete personality" at the individual level, develop a "creative society" at the social level, cultivate a "confident nation" at the national level, promote "Chinese wisdom" at the civilization level, and build a "colorful world" at the international level. In short, with the help of the power of sports, we will build a "5C" system of individuals, society, country, civilization, and the world, thereby promoting China’s modernization process and advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.

  We believe that the "5C" system, which provides strong support for the construction of a socialist modern power, has formed the basic framework of Xi Jinping’s important discourse on sports, and the concept of people-oriented and harmonious coexistence contained in the excellent traditional Chinese culture is its cultural foundation. This means that the construction of a sports power in the new era is centered on the people, and what it strives to achieve is the harmonious coexistence and common growth of the main elements of modern civilization - individuals, society, country, civilization, and the international community. This is the "sports epitome" of Chinese modernization.

  2.1 Complete Personality: Promoting the All-Round Development of People

  As part of overall education, sports have multiple functions to fully develop individuals psychologically, physically, morally, spiritually and socially. It can cultivate a healthy body and shape a sound personality, promote the biological and social development of individuals at the same time, and play an important role in the process of individuals transforming from "biological people" to "social people".

  In February 2014, when Xi Jinping visited Beijing’s Nanluoguxiang, he recalled with his old neighbors the fun of going to Shichahai to skate after school. He loved skating and playing football when he was young, and he insisted on swimming and mountain climbing after work. Xi Jinping has a personal understanding and deep understanding of the significance and value of sports to individual growth. He once pointed out: "A healthy person must have rich knowledge and cultural connotations, as well as a healthy spirit and a strong body. We must continuously improve the physical fitness and health of the entire nation through the development of sports."

  It is under Xi Jinping’s personal planning and deployment that "meeting the people’s fitness needs and promoting the all-round development of people" has become the starting point and end point of China’s sports work in the new era. From "developing sports and enhancing the people’s physique" in the Mao Zedong era to "meeting the people’s fitness needs and promoting the all-round development of people" in the Xi Jinping era, the renewal and iteration of the Chinese people’s sports concept reflects China’s development leap from standing up and getting rich to becoming strong.

  ——Based on "all people": achieve all people’s health through all people’s fitness, and then achieve a well-off society in all respects

  In the final analysis, modernization is the modernization of people, and the most important indicator of modernization is people’s health. In Xi Jinping’s view, people’s health, people’s physique, and people’s happiness are all in the same vein, "which is the meaning of all-round well-off and all-round modernization."

  In Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports, "national fitness" and "national health" are high-frequency words. In terms of epistemology, he pointed out that "national fitness is the foundation and guarantee for all people to strengthen their physique and live a healthy life" and "without national health, there will be no comprehensive well-off society." In terms of methodology, he emphasized that "people’s health should be given priority in development", "efforts should be made to ensure people’s health in all aspects and throughout the whole cycle", and "through national fitness, we can achieve national health and then achieve a comprehensive well-off society."

  Chinese modernization is a modernization with a huge population scale and a modernization of common prosperity for all people. Specifically in the field of sports, this means: China’s sports cause in the new era is a cause for all people to participate in and enjoy; the results of implementing the national strategy of national fitness and promoting the construction of a healthy China benefit all people; more than 1.4 billion people living on the land of China, regardless of region, ethnicity, occupation, or gender, jointly build and share a higher level of public fitness service system. When the developing countries, which account for nearly one-fifth of the world’s population, embrace modern sports and enjoy a good sports service system and public health level, this will completely rewrite the map of global sports development and create an unprecedented miracle in the history of human civilization.

  ——Focus on “youth”: The healthy growth of young people determines the sustainable development of the Chinese nation

  In his book On Education, the 19th century British philosopher Herbert Spencer proposed the view that "education is to prepare for the future life of mankind." Xi Jinping is very concerned about the physical education and healthy development of young people, the protagonists of "the future life of mankind." He said earnestly: "I care about and attach great importance to the growth of young people, because you are the future and hope of the motherland. Without the healthy growth of young people, the country will not have far-reaching development."

  Xi Jinping attaches great importance to youth sports work, which is based on the strategic vision of "a strong youth means a strong China", and also stems from the accurate grasp of the laws of sports and the growth of young people. Xi Jinping believes that "adolescence is the golden period for improving people’s health quality". He has visited campuses and young people again and again, encouraging them to enjoy the fun of physical exercise, strengthen their physical fitness, improve their personality, and exercise their will, so as to become socialist builders and successors with all-round development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics and labor. "The body is the capital for all struggles and successes in life. Children and teenagers should pay attention to strengthening physical exercise", "More physical exercise means less ’little fat man’ and ’little glasses’", "Study well and keep your body strong"... These kind and simple words condense the life wisdom of a loving elder and carry the earnest advice of a leader of a great country.

  Xi Jinping regards the promotion of youth sports development as a systematic, holistic and coordinated project. He reshaped the concept and proposed "establishing the educational concept of health first and offering full physical education classes", emphasizing that "strong teenagers and strong young people are multifaceted, including ideological and moral character, academic performance, innovation ability, hands-on ability, as well as physical health, strong physique and sportsmanship". He pointed out the path and advocated the construction of a trinity of family, school and society to cultivate a strong physique for young people, and promote the healthy growth of young people in the deepening integration of sports and education. From the sunny smiles on the playground to the fighting postures on the field, more and more Chinese "post-00s" and "post-10s" have fallen in love with sports, and China’s youth sports in the new era is becoming more and more vibrant.

  2.2 Creative Society: Adding impetus to economic and social development

  Since the 20th century, sports phenomena have extended to many areas of society and have become more complex. Sports sociology theory believes that in terms of the inward dimension, sports can promote individual development and the socialization process of people; in terms of the outward dimension, sports are closely linked to other social fields and social phenomena. They are subject to the social environment and can also exert influence on social subsystems such as politics, economy, and culture.

  Xi Jinping, with overall, systematic and dialectical thinking, examined the status and role of sports in the social system from the perspectives of "sports and politics", "sports and economy" and "sports and culture", and attached great importance to the social function of sports to "add impetus to economic and social development and gather strength". He advocated that sports work should be planned in the context of the national development strategy and the overall pattern of economic and social development, actively promoting sports reform and development, and creating a "good society" that is both full of vitality and harmonious and orderly.

  ——Institutional power: Stimulating the innovation of multiple entities with a new national system

  "New national system" is one of the key words in Xi Jinping’s governance. In addition to scientific and technological innovation, sports is another important area where Xi Jinping proposed to give full play to the advantages of the new national system.

  The traditional national system is the secret to the success of China’s competitive sports to catch up and develop. With the continuous improvement of the socialist market economic system and the rise of market forces, social forces, and family forces, the traditional national system is also in urgent need of keeping pace with the times. In September 2019, when meeting with representatives of the Chinese women’s volleyball team, Xi Jinping emphasized: "Adhere to the combination of the national system and the market mechanism, keep in mind the original intention, persevere, and strive to create a new situation in my country’s sports in the new era." In the field of sports, the creation of a new national system is to give full play to the important role of the market mechanism in the development of sports on the basis of inheriting the advantages of the traditional national system, and through the coordinated operation and organic integration of government-led, social autonomy, and market autonomy, stimulate the innovative vitality of various subjects, optimize the allocation of economic and social resources in various fields, and gather wisdom and strength to promote the high-quality development of sports in the new era.

  The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most fundamental experience in the development of China’s sports industry. The new national system is the "upgrade of the times" of the national system, which embodies the Chinese Communists’ wisdom of "holding the middle ground": emphasizing both an effective government and an effective market; giving full play to the institutional advantages of socialism’s concentration of power to accomplish major tasks, and giving full play to the competitive advantages of the market mechanism in allocating resources. Such a new mechanism can not only avoid the drawbacks of insufficient social vitality caused by over-reliance on the government, but also solve the problem that "in an environment with increasing complexity, hierarchical governance, network governance, and market governance will inevitably fail." In the "Beijing Winter Olympics Report Card" handed over by China to the world, there is not only the "Chinese speed" of all venues completed one year ahead of schedule under the support of the national system, but also the "Chinese technology" of using aerospace wind tunnel laboratories for athlete training, and "Chinese stars" such as Su Yiming who are mainly cultivated by family power. This grand event is a concrete presentation of "Vibrant China" and a vivid practice of exploring the establishment of a new national system.

  ——The power of industry: Cultivating new momentum for economic transformation with the "three-in-one" development pattern

  Different from traditional society where sports existed mainly as a political or cultural product, in modern society, sports have been deeply embedded in the economic system. On the one hand, sports can promote the physical and mental health of workers and improve the quality of human resources; on the other hand, sports itself has become an important part of the modern economy, and the economic value generated by sports accounts for an increasingly high proportion of GDP in various countries.

  Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the economic function of sports and puts forward the important conclusion that sports are "an important driving force for promoting economic and social development". Under the guidance of the new development concept he proposed, national fitness, competitive sports, sports industry, and sports culture have developed more coordinated and balanced. Serving rural revitalization, promoting industrial upgrading, releasing employment efficiency, cultivating new quality workers, and coping with population aging... The sports cause in the new era is integrating into the national development pattern with unprecedented depth, breadth, and speed.

  Of particular pioneering significance is that Xi Jinping proposed "promoting the coordinated development of mass sports, competitive sports, and sports industry", and established a "three-in-one" development pattern of a strong sports country. As China enters a new era, China’s sports goods manufacturing is accelerating and upgrading, the outdoor sports industry is booming, and the economic results of sports events are remarkable; new professions such as "e-sports players" and "sports protection specialists" have become new blue oceans for absorbing employment, and new formats such as sports "+ tourism", "+ culture", and "+ business circles" have become new engines for promoting consumption and economic growth... The sports industry, which has high growth and sustainability characteristics, has shown immeasurable energy in helping to transform economic momentum and promote high-quality development.

  2.3 Confident Nation: Providing a strong spiritual force to unite the hearts and minds of the Chinese nation for its great rejuvenation

  American anthropologist Benedict Anderson called nations "imagined communities". As a common ritual and activity, sports can awaken collective memory, strengthen common emotions, build "interconnected intentions" among community members, and promote the community from "imagination" to reality. Relevant institutions have conducted surveys on the impact of the Beijing Winter Olympics on the mentality of the Chinese public. The results show that the successful hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics has the most prominent impact on the public’s patriotism, tolerance, and self-confidence.

  ——Shaping national identity and boosting national spirit

  Sports can enhance national self-confidence and pride, and play a unique role in improving national and social cohesion. For China, which has a unique historical experience, this role is particularly important. In 1981, the Chinese men’s volleyball team worked together and turned defeat into victory in a key match. The excited Peking University students shouted the strong voice of the times, "Unite and revitalize China." On the eve of May 4th Youth Day in 2018, Xi Jinping recalled the past when he had a discussion with Peking University teachers and students, and said with emotion: "Today we still have to shout this slogan and work together to realize the Chinese dream." On the day of the 2023 "Village Super League" competition, nearly 10,000 people of all ethnic groups in Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province, held hands and sang and danced the "Duoye" dance. More than 20 ethnic groups including the Han, Miao, and Dong nationalities "hug each other tightly like pomegranate seeds", vividly showing the harmonious scene of national unity and joint development in China in the new era.

  In Xi Jinping’s grand sports concept, sports are closely linked to national prosperity and national rejuvenation. He pointed out: "The dream of each of us, the dream of a strong sports nation, is closely linked to the Chinese dream." In Xi Jinping’s view, "the development of sports is not only an important part of realizing the Chinese dream, but also a powerful spiritual force to unite the hearts and minds of the Chinese nation for its great rejuvenation."

  ——Carry forward the Chinese sports spirit and serve the national rejuvenation

  Looking at the great powers in world history, they all generated far-reaching spiritual power during their important periods of rise and development. This spiritual power is an important spiritual wealth for their great achievements. Xi Jinping, who is leading China in the new era to achieve national rejuvenation, attaches great importance to cultivating and boosting the "spirit" of the entire nation. He once said: "Spirit is the soul on which a nation relies for long-term survival. Only when the spirit reaches a certain height can the nation stand firm and forge ahead in the torrent of history."

  The spirit of sports is a microcosm of the Chinese spirit, and the Chinese spirit of sports is the internal driving force for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In August 2013, Xi Jinping emphasized when meeting with representatives of advanced sports units and individuals across the country: "The Chinese spirit of sports, which is summed up by the majority of sports workers in long-term practice and is mainly about ’winning glory for the country, selfless dedication, scientific and realistic, abiding by laws and regulations, unity and cooperation, and tenacious struggle’, is hard-won and precious. We must inherit, innovate, and carry forward it." In August 2024, when meeting with all members of the Chinese sports delegation to the 33rd Summer Olympic Games, Xi Jinping pointed out: "The outstanding achievements of the Chinese sports delegation have carried forward the Chinese spirit of sports and the Olympic spirit, and let the Chinese national spirit and the spirit of the times complement each other, vividly interpreting The Chinese spirit of the new era. In the arena, everyone kept in mind the trust of the Party and the people, and made vows such as "national honor always exceeds personal honor" and "I dedicate this gold medal to the great motherland", showing the pure feelings of putting the motherland first and winning glory for the country, showing the belief in winning with tenacious struggle and self-improvement, showing the precious qualities of unity and cooperation and fighting side by side, and showing the confident, optimistic, warm and friendly sunny temperament of the young generation of China. You have shown the world the profound accumulation of China’s excellent traditional culture, the open, inclusive and high-spirited era of China, and the ambition, sharpness and confidence of the Chinese people. The motherland and the people are proud of you and give you thumbs up. "

  In the new era, the genealogy of the Chinese sports spirit is more three-dimensional and multi-dimensional, including the Chinese sports spirit with the main content of "winning glory for the country, selfless dedication, scientific and realistic, abiding by laws and regulations, unity and cooperation, and tenacious struggle", the new era women’s volleyball spirit of "the motherland is supreme, unity and cooperation, tenacious struggle, and never give up", and the Beijing Winter Olympics spirit of "thinking about the overall situation, being confident and open, facing difficulties, pursuing excellence, and creating the future together". The Chinese sports spirit transcends the competitive level of sports, accumulates the deepest spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation, and directly points to the Chinese people’s worldview, outlook on life, and outlook on life. It not only injects a steady stream of spiritual power into the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, but also forms a spiritual resonance and emotional resonance of "being one family" among Chinese people at home and abroad.

  —— Cultivate Chinese sports culture and strengthen cultural confidence

  Cultural confidence is the most basic, profound and lasting force in the development of a country and a nation. In Xi Jinping’s strategy for governing the country, cultural construction is placed in a prominent position. As an important part of social culture, sports culture construction has also been elevated to a new height. The first article of the newly revised Sports Law clearly states: "Carry forward the Chinese sports spirit and cultivate Chinese sports culture."

  Rooted in the local area and facing the world, Chinese sports culture continues to grow in the new era: the Chinese sports spirit is more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the culture of sports events is becoming more colorful, and traditional sports events continue to be revitalized... In the young people practicing Ba Duan Jin, in the fashionable national trend of national sports brands, and at the opening ceremony of the Universiade illuminated by the "Sun Bird", the world feels the new atmosphere and new pulse of Chinese sports culture.

  Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed the need to strengthen cultural confidence and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s excellent traditional culture. As an important part of China’s excellent culture, excellent traditional sports culture is rapidly moving towards a broader stage. Wushu was included in the official competition events of the Fourth Youth Olympic Games, Tai Chi was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO, and dragon boat racing was presented as a performance event at the Tokyo Olympics... Along with these "living historical heritages" of Chinese culture going abroad, there are also the "Chinese aesthetics" and "Chinese wisdom" contained therein.

  2.4 Chinese Wisdom: People-oriented, harmonious coexistence

  Some scholars believe that the traditional Chinese social structure is a "family-country-world continuum centered on the self" or a "social continuum centered on the self". Each self is embedded in this continuum, starting from the self and expanding outward one by one to the larger community of "family-country-world". Although modern changes have had a severe impact on traditional Chinese society, "family-country-world" has long been sublimated from a social structure to a spiritual structure, and as the inherent temperament of Chinese civilization, it has profoundly influenced the political imagination and social construction of modern China. This is also reflected in the field of sports.

  In the "5C" system that provides strong support for building a strong country, "complete personality", "vibrant society", "confident country", "Eastern wisdom" and "colorful world" together constitute a concentric circle continuum. Figuratively speaking, the "center" of the concentric circle is the concept of "people-oriented", and the concentric circle structure itself shows that in the continuum, the individual-society-country-world, as the main elements of modern civilization, are in a harmonious and synchronous relationship with each other.

  ——People-oriented: Adhere to the idea of ​​putting people at the center

  French President Emmanuel Macron presented Xi Jinping with a state gift - a 1688 edition of the French manuscript of "An Introduction to the Analects". This state gift witnessed the story of the spread of Chinese culture to the West in the 17th and 18th centuries. Eastern philosophy showed Europeans, who had been trapped by city-state wars and religious conflicts for hundreds of years, a new vision of governance: relying on ethics and "the spirit of benevolence, gentleness, honesty and humanity" to support the peaceful and orderly development of society. These ideas deeply inspired European Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire and Leibniz.

  Chinese philosopher Lou Yulie believes that the humanistic spirit is the most distinctive feature of Chinese traditional culture, and the core of the humanistic spirit is the concept of "people-oriented". The "governance of China" in the new era continues and carries forward this tradition, and "people-centered" has become the "center" of Xi Jinping’s governance. In the construction of a strong sports country, he proposed: "We must adhere to the idea of ​​putting people at the center, take the people as the main body of the development of sports, and take satisfying the people’s fitness needs and promoting the all-round development of people as the starting point and foothold of sports work." In fact, the "5C" system that provides strong support for the construction of a strong country is ultimately for the health and happiness of the people and to continuously meet the people’s yearning for a better life.

  ——Harmony and coexistence: jointly building a harmonious and cooperative family

  In January 2020, the International Olympic Committee held an executive committee meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, and passed the decision to include wushu in the Dakar Youth Olympic Games. This will be the first time that wushu has become an official event in the Olympic Games. IOC President Bach said: "We are very happy to include wushu in the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games. The host of this Youth Olympic Games, Senegal, also welcomes the inclusion of wushu because young people there also like wushu very much."

  The inclusion of Wushu in the Olympics shows that its philosophy of "regarding harmony between the human body and mind as truth, interpersonal harmony as goodness, and harmony between man and nature as beauty" is gaining wider recognition around the world. In the Chinese character system, the character "武" (martial arts) is composed of "止" (stop) and "戈" (weapon), which means "to stop war is to be a warrior". The military thought of not fighting and being cautious about fighting and the cultural concept of advocating peace and harmony have a long history in the great Eastern country.

  The construction of a sports power in the new era also inherits the concept of harmony advocated by the excellent traditional Chinese culture. To shape a "complete personality", physical and mental harmony and interpersonal harmony are a given; to develop a "vibrant society", it is emphasized that the government, society and the market should work together to coordinate the development of mass sports, competitive sports and sports industry; to cultivate a "confident country" is to encourage the people of all ethnic groups in the country to unite and strive to form a joint force for national development; to carry forward "Eastern wisdom" is to fully carry forward the advantages of Chinese traditional culture and provide Chinese solutions and paths for the development of world sports; to build a "colorful world", it is to use sports as an important means of foreign exchanges and an important way to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, to transcend the barriers between civilizations through exchanges of civilizations, to transcend the conflicts between civilizations through mutual learning of civilizations, to transcend the superiority of civilizations through the coexistence of civilizations, to jointly build a harmonious world and create a better future.

  Individual-society-state-world, as the main elements of modern civilization, are often in opposition in mainstream Western political science. However, in the "5C" system that supports the construction of a strong country, "individual and state", "society and state", "nationalism and internationalism", etc., are mutually integrated and mutually beneficial: the individual and the state, society and the state have achieved synchronous growth, and the national spirit and internationalism, the Chinese spirit and the world sentiment have achieved a high degree of unity.

  2.5 Colorful World: Promoting exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese civilization and other civilizations around the world

  Sports is the "universal language" of mankind, with a global nature that transcends race, country and ideology. As China actively integrates into the international community and gradually moves to the center of the world stage, sports are of great significance as a bridge connecting the inside and outside world, a medium for expressing its own values, and a means to promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

  ——Sports diplomacy of heads of state conveys friendship and goodwill to the world

  As a "senior sports fan", Xi Jinping personally carried out sports diplomacy, deepened state-to-state relations and promoted friendship between people. He praised Dutch legendary goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar for "having many fans in China" and took "one of the most surreal selfies in history" with Premier League Manchester City star Sergio Aguero. He is the first Chinese head of state to attend a major international sports event held abroad and the first Chinese top leader to visit the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee. The scene of him cheering for ice hockey, football and table tennis players together with foreign leaders is a classic moment of China’s major power diplomacy. During Xi Jinping’s visit to France in May 2024, the Chinese and French heads of state exchanged Olympic torches, adding another good story to the major power sports diplomacy. Using sports as a bridge, Xi Jinping conveyed China’s friendship and goodwill to the world, demonstrated China’s openness and vitality, and enhanced the international community’s recognition, understanding and support for China.

  ——Sports and cultural exchanges inject vitality into major countries’ diplomacy

  Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the role of sports as a bridge and bond for cross-cultural exchanges. Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, sports have become an important part of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. In many bilateral high-level cultural exchange mechanisms between China and foreign countries, sports are one of the key areas of cooperation.

  The Belt and Road Marathon Series, the Belt and Road Fighting Competition, the Belt and Road Four-Nation Basketball Invitational, the Belt and Road Table Tennis Invitational and other events have been rising, their content has been enriched, and their level has been continuously improved, playing an important role in promoting exchanges between the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. After Xi Jinping proposed the initiative of "jointly building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future", sports exchanges between China and ASEAN countries have continued to heat up, and many sports events such as cycling, marathon, badminton, and football have been launched, making positive contributions to promoting friendly relations between my country and ASEAN countries. Various forms of sports and cultural exchanges are boosters for friendly relations between countries, driving the interconnection of people, logistics, information and capital flows between China and foreign countries, enhancing the friendship between the people of each other, and promoting bilateral and multilateral relations to a new level.

  ——Sports events effectively promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations

  Ten years ago, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Xi Jinping proposed a colorful, equal and inclusive view of civilization, emphasizing that "civilizations are colorful because of exchanges, and they are enriched by mutual learning. Exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations are an important driving force for promoting the progress of human civilization and world peace and development." In Xi Jinping’s view, hosting large-scale international events is an important window for China to embrace the world and for the world to understand China, and is conducive to the integration of Eastern and Western social civilizations. The successful hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics has promoted exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations, "played an important role in promoting global unity and cooperation and overcoming difficulties, and brought confidence and hope to the turbulent world, sending a strong message of the times to the world: ’Together towards the future!’"

  China held the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games with the original intention of "enhancing the integration and friendship of the world’s youth" and building "an important platform for promoting cultural exchanges and integration"; the purpose of holding the Beijing World Track and Field Championships was to "develop cooperation between China and other countries in the world in sports and various fields, and express the sincere desire of the Chinese people to share the fruits of development with the people of all countries and create a better future together"; the starting point of holding the Beijing Winter Olympics was to "promote exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese civilization and civilizations of all countries in the world, so that the Chinese people have the opportunity to contribute to the development of the Olympic movement and the spread of the Olympic spirit again"; the purpose of holding the Chengdu Universiade was to "join hands with the world’s youth to promote world peace and development with the vitality of youth" and "build a spiritual home of harmony and diversity with an inclusive mind"; the purpose of holding the Hangzhou Asian Games was to "promote peace, unity and tolerance through sports, enhance civilization confidence, persist in exchanges and mutual learning, and continue to write a new glory for Asian civilization". Today, large-scale international events have become a colorful stage for promoting the exchange and integration of Chinese culture and other cultures and deepening the understanding and friendship between different cultures. The Beijing Winter Olympics presented a perfect fusion of Chinese culture, ice and snow culture and Olympic culture, leaving an "incomparable" impression on the people of the world.

  ——“Sports Expression” of the Concept of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind

  Xi Jinping’s proposal to build a community with a shared future for mankind as "the only future of mankind on this planet" has achieved a leap from concept to practice, and has formed a scientific theoretical system with "lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, cleanliness and beauty" as governance goals, "peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom" as value pursuits, and "global development initiatives, global security initiatives and global civilization initiatives" as practical content. When the Beijing Winter Olympics played the ice and snow song "Together to the Future", the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind completed a vivid practice in the field of international sports, showing the great potential of sports as a carrier for the implementation of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind. In terms of value concepts, the inclusiveness of sports across ideologies fits the deep-seated value pursuits shared by all mankind; in practice, sports, due to its unique governance function, can play an important role in sharing development results, international security cooperation and exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and become an important way to implement the three major initiatives and achieve the governance goals of a community with a shared future for mankind. The world is currently facing a major change that has not been seen in a century, and global sports development is in a period where exchanges, cooperation and dialogue need to play a greater role. Chinese sports are constantly exploring and improving the most tacit cooperation model with the community with a shared future for mankind, which will surely inject the tremendous power of sports into promoting the development and progress of human civilization and creating a new form of civilization for all mankind.

  Chapter 3: Promoting Historical Leap Forward: Practical Achievements of Xi Jinping’s Important Expositions on Sports

  In the new era, China is vigorously promoting the construction of a sports power and a healthy China. The sports dream has merged into the tide of the Chinese dream. China has appeared on the world sports stage with the image of a "sunny, prosperous, open and hopeful country."

  China insists on the "three wings flying together" of mass sports, competitive sports and sports industry, adheres to the new national system, adheres to the open door, let go, and the whole society runs sports, the anti-corruption work in the sports field continues to deepen, the anti-doping measures have achieved remarkable results, and insists on building a clear ecology to ensure the steady and long-term construction of a sports power. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports, Chinese sports have undergone many historic changes and achieved many historic achievements in the new era. A Chinese-style path to building a sports power is clearly presented to the world.

  3.1 Changes in the pattern: the three major drivers are running side by side

  In the new era, China’s construction of a sports power has been endowed with more connotations, and the development pattern has undergone profound changes. Xi Jinping regards "promoting the coordinated development of mass sports, competitive sports, and sports industry" as an important task to accelerate the construction of a sports power, and has built a new "three-in-one" development pattern to jointly help realize the dream of a sports power.

  ——National fitness craze

  In the new era, the national strategy of national fitness has been deeply implemented, the level of public services has been significantly improved, national fitness has been deeply integrated with national health, and the people’s sense of gain and happiness has been continuously enhanced, injecting strong impetus into the realization of a strong sports country and a healthy China. In 2014, China raised national fitness to a national strategy for the first time. The Chinese people’s enthusiasm for fitness has reached an unprecedented high. There are more and more sports parks around the people, and fitness facilities are becoming more and more intelligent. "15-minute fitness circles" have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and "farmers’ sports and fitness projects" have covered the vast majority of administrative villages in China. Mass events have blossomed online and offline, and scientific fitness guidance has come to the people... More than 500 million people regularly participate in physical exercise, and "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" has become a reality. Sports are becoming more and more important in satisfying the Chinese people’s yearning for a better life.

  ——Strong in competitive sports

  Competitive sports are an important part of the sports industry and play an important leading and driving role in building a strong sports nation. In the new era, China’s comprehensive competitive sports strength and international influence continue to increase.

  China has consistently ranked in the top three in the gold medal table at the Summer Olympics, and the breadth of gold medals has continued to expand. At the Paris Olympics, the Chinese sports delegation won 40 gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze medals, tied with the United States for first place in the number of gold medals, creating the best record in overseas competitions, and achieved breakthroughs in multiple dimensions such as the number of gold medals, gold medal events, and the number of gold medal athletes, demonstrating the further improvement of my country’s comprehensive competitive sports strength.

  During the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese athletes overcame challenges such as the epidemic and won 9 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals, creating the best results in China’s history in the Winter Olympics.

  On the basis of the sustained and stable performance in the Olympics, Chinese athletes have also performed well in international competitions in tennis, racing, boxing, chess, golf, etc. Chinese competitive sports are gradually expanding into wider fields, showing increasingly strong comprehensive strength.

  ——Sports industry booming

  In the new era, the overall scale of China’s sports industry has been greatly improved, the development environment has been continuously improved, the market potential has been continuously released, and its status and role in the national economy have been significantly enhanced. The sports industry has ushered in an average annual growth rate of more than 10%, and the growth rate of total scale and industry added value are much higher than the GDP growth rate in the same period. As a new force in the national economy, the sports industry has shown great potential.

  The sports industry has become a new force in releasing consumption potential, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, and promoting employment. At present, China has formed a sports industry system led by competition performance, fitness and leisure, and jointly developed by sports venue services, sports training, sports manufacturing, and sports media, which has effectively driven social employment and adjusted and alleviated employment structural contradictions.

  The deep integration of sports with various fields has added new impetus to the high-quality development of China’s economy. The in-depth development of the sports industry has given rise to a new model that integrates sports with culture, tourism, health care, and training. "Sports +" and "+ Sports" have enabled the sports industry to intersect and penetrate with related industries, giving rise to more and more emerging formats.

  3.2 System changes: the new national system is becoming more and more perfect

  The national system embodies the advantage of socialism in concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks. It is the institutional guarantee for the development of Chinese competitive sports and one of the secrets of the remarkable achievements of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

  In the field of sports, the traditional national system has effectively improved the level of competitive sports and fully demonstrated China’s institutional advantages and confidence in its path. However, with the deepening of economic system reform, the contradiction between the traditional national system and the market mechanism has become increasingly prominent. From highlighting projects that can win gold medals to focusing on solving the long-term backwardness of popular projects such as the three major balls; from scientific research and technological assistance in competitive sports to scientific fitness guidance and integrated development of sports and medicine in mass sports; from the preparation of the sports system to the preparation of large-scale comprehensive events, a new system is needed to mobilize the forces of the government, society, industry and market to work together to tackle the problems.

  The new national system is a new mechanism that combines the advantages of socialism’s concentration of power to accomplish major tasks with the competitive advantages of market allocation of resources under the socialist market economy, mobilizes national resources, and achieves national goals. In the field of competitive sports, it emphasizes the combination of the traditional national system and the market mechanism, and promotes Chinese competitive sports to integrate into the overall economic and social development on the basis of achieving the goal of winning glory for the country.

  Facing the dual challenges of a complex world situation and the century-long epidemic, China successfully hosted the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which is a vivid practice of the new national system. Looking back on the seven-year journey of the Winter Olympics, Xi Jinping has been caring, leading, planning and promoting it all the way. He has made five in-depth field visits, held four special meetings, and traveled to three Winter Olympic venues. He has successively issued a series of important instructions and instructions, bringing together a strong force for the whole country to host the Winter Olympics.

  In the past seven years, many Chinese Winter Olympic projects have been created from scratch, and some have even reached the world’s advanced level; all Winter Olympic venues were completed ahead of schedule; the Beijing-Zhangjiakou and Beijing-Li Expressways were opened to traffic; remarkable results were achieved in the environmental protection work in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region; urban construction and governance capabilities were rapidly improved; volunteer services were warm and thoughtful... This not only reflects the ability of the new national system in terms of overall coordination, organization and mobilization, implementation, and optimal allocation of resources, but also highlights the advantages of concentrating resources to accomplish big, difficult, urgent, and successful tasks.

  ——The new national system has enhanced the comprehensive strength of China’s competitive sports. Compared with the traditional national system that emphasizes the single goal of "winning glory for the Olympics" in competitive sports, the new national system emphasizes the combination of winning glory and educating people, looking at both sports performance and self-transcendence; looking at both gold medals and medals, and national fitness; looking at both the development of sports events and the legacy benefits of hosting large-scale events. Competitive sports have realized multiple functions such as competition, leisure, entertainment, culture, and education, meeting the diverse needs of the people.

  ——The new national system has created conditions for the integration of competitive sports into economic and social development. The new national system solves the problem of high-quality development of competitive sports from "existence to excellence, from weakness to strength", which can promote the complementary advantages of effective government and effective market. The government integrates high-quality resources in athlete selection, training, education, competition and scientific and technological research, and promotes the transformation of scientific research results into promoting economic and social development.

  ——The new national system has made important contributions to the development of the Olympic movement. In recent years, China has successfully hosted major international sports events such as the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chengdu Universiade, and the Hangzhou Asian Games. The number of Chinese athletes winning world championships and breaking world records has risen rapidly. These practices have demonstrated the unique advantages of the new national system and provided Chinese experience for the development of world competitive sports.

  3.3 Changes in the subject: universal participation gradually becomes a trend

  In the new era, the sports departments insist on running sports in an open manner, letting go of sports, and running sports by the whole society, and gradually form a new model of sports development.

  ——Open the door to sports and activate new engines. On July 24, 2021, Yang Qian, a student of Tsinghua University, won the first gold medal of the Chinese delegation in the women’s 10-meter air rifle competition at the Tokyo Olympics. Tsinghua University is a typical example of a university running a high-level sports team. Thanks to the diversification of the national team’s team-running model, the enthusiasm of schools, local governments and social forces to participate in competitive sports has been fully mobilized.

  ——Let go of sports and generate new momentum. Xi Jinping pointed out in his report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China: "Transform government functions, deepen the simplification of administration and decentralization, innovate supervision methods, enhance government credibility and execution, and build a service-oriented government that satisfies the people." In accordance with the requirements of the State Council to deepen the simplification of administration and decentralization, combine decentralization with supervision, and optimize services, the sports system has steadily promoted the "decentralization, decentralization and service" reform, doing both the "subtraction" of simplification of administration and decentralization and the "addition" of strengthening supervision. The sports department has taken the initiative to delegate power to relevant departments such as education, science and technology, health, culture, and tourism, and the potential of sports social organizations and market entities has been stimulated.

  ——Sports run by the whole society opens up new ideas. At the Tokyo Olympics, many athletes of China’s three-on-three basketball, skateboarding, sailing and windsurfing teams came from social sports clubs and sports colleges; since the 13th National Games, mass events have begun to take the stage of this highest-level and largest comprehensive sports event in China, deeply stimulating the enthusiasm of the whole people to participate in sports.

  China is working hard to better meet the sports needs of people of different ages and categories, including infants, teenagers, the elderly, the disabled, farmers, women, and workers, and is constantly improving the public fitness service system covering the entire life cycle and health process.

  The long-lasting popularity of road running events has attracted much attention. The number of marathons and related road running events in China increased from 51 in 2014 to 1,828 in 2019, a more than 30-fold increase in five years. After the epidemic, road running events quickly recovered. In 2023, a total of 580 road running events were held nationwide, with a total of 5.5 million participants. In 2024, more than 260,000 people signed up for the Wuxi Marathon, setting a new record for domestic marathons.

  Rural sports are gaining momentum. With more than 48 billion views on the entire network, "Village Super" has become the top sports traffic; the National Harmonious Rural Basketball Competition has given the Rural Basketball League a "national version"; table tennis, badminton, dragon boat racing and other sports have also appeared in rural sports events, and the diversified "rural sports IP" has become a tool for the integration of sports and tourism to help rural revitalization.

  Sports activities for people with disabilities are becoming increasingly diverse. With the launch of activities such as the Disabled Fitness Week, the National Special Olympics Day, and the China Disabled Ice and Snow Sports Season, sports have become an effective way for people with disabilities to improve their physical fitness, rehabilitate their bodies and minds, participate in society, and achieve all-round development.

  3.4 Change of mentality: open, confident and inclusive mindset of a great power

  From the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, from "opening the door to welcome guests" to "one world, one family", from "I" to "we" - in 14 years, China has changed from a "learner" to a "leader" in the Olympic movement, and has grown into the "new Olympic benchmark" repeatedly praised by IOC President Bach.

  Behind this is the change in the mentality of Chinese sports in recent years. Today, Chinese sports are attracting the world’s attention with an open, inclusive, confident and upright attitude. In the new era, Chinese sports have achieved countless historic breakthroughs, boosting the confidence and morale of the Chinese people time and time again, and the Chinese people’s mentality towards sports has also been constantly changing.

  "We don’t judge heroes by victory or defeat, but heroes must dare to be the first and the best." Xi Jinping’s words are powerful. The open era breeds colorful dreams, and "success" has multiple definitions. People have broken away from the "gold medal theory" and formed a more open and diverse value system.

  Inside and outside the stadium, the young generation of athletes are witty, frank, friendly, sunny, confident, and broad-minded, showing the youthful Chinese style. At the Tokyo Olympics, Zhang Yufei gave a hug to Ikee Rikako, who had defeated leukemia; at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Su Yiming and his coach responded generously to the referee’s scoring controversy, and Gao Hongbo, who was injured at the last minute, received the lowest score of the game but raised his hands and smiled brightly; at the Paris Olympics, He Bingjiao, who won the silver medal in women’s singles badminton, stepped onto the podium holding the badge of the Spanish Olympic Committee to express her support for her opponent Marin, who withdrew from the semi-finals due to injury... People not only cheered for the champions, but also paid tribute to these moments that show the glory of human nature.

  Facing the gold medals and achievements, we are more confident, calm, generous and rational. In the Paris Olympics, facing all kinds of unfavorable conditions, the Chinese swimming team braved the waves and won two gold medals, sending out a cry representing the spirit of self-improvement of Chinese athletes; the shooting team members are more courageous to express themselves, and Liu Yukun and other gold medal winners made witty remarks in the post-match interviews, showing the increasingly obvious "relaxation" of the new generation of athletes; Zheng Qinwen achieved a breakthrough in the tennis court, and his tenacity on the court and his free and easy attitude after the game were equally moving.

  The change of mentality reflects the change of culture. The Chinese sports spirit, the women’s volleyball spirit, and the Beijing Winter Olympics spirit highly condensedly show the style of Chinese sports culture in the new era, and provide a strong spiritual driving force for promoting the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation.

  In the new era, the content of sports activities in China is constantly enriched. With the progress of the times, more and more sports have changed from "watching" on TV to "trying" with widespread participation of the public. Road running, square dancing, and ice and snow sports are still popular, cycling, hiking, and camping are in the ascendant, frisbee, skateboarding, and surfing are popular among young people, and fishing is no longer exclusive to middle-aged and elderly people. Sports are changing social aesthetics and health concepts and becoming a new way of socializing.

  National fitness has made national sports brands popular. Young people are chasing after "national trends" and are proud of their national culture. Chinese brands are looking to the world. Xtep is committed to "making world-class Chinese running shoes", "China Li Ning" has appeared at New York and Paris Fashion Weeks, and Peak’s "Taiji" series has received rave reviews overseas. In August 2022, Anta replaced Nike to top the Chinese sports brand market, achieving a counterattack for domestic products.

  This is a clear manifestation of cultural confidence. Cultural confidence is a more basic, broader and deeper confidence, and is the indelible spiritual background of today’s China. It leads Chinese sports with rich connotations to the international stage, and with an open, confident and inclusive image, it continues to win the respect and applause of the world.

  3.5 Ecological Change: A fair, clean and clear environment that encourages innovation

  Since the new era, China has always led the healthy and orderly development of sports from the perspective of continuously satisfying the people’s yearning for a better life, continuously improved the level of sports rule of law, continued to advance the fight against doping and corruption, and vigorously supported scientific and technological innovation to enable high-quality development of sports and create a good ecology of fairness, integrity, and clear waters.

  ——Adhere to the rule of law and improve relevant laws, regulations and policies.

  From the "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption" and the "Healthy China 2030" Planning Outline, to the "Outline for Building a Powerful Sports Nation", "Opinions on Promoting National Fitness and Sports Consumption to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Sports Industry", and "Opinions on Building a Higher-Level National Fitness Public Service System", one after another of the important documents have been issued, drawing a grand blueprint for the dream of a powerful sports nation. Based on these national documents, local governments have also introduced relevant supporting policies according to local conditions, and the legal support for sports has become more comprehensive and powerful.

  In June 2022, the newly revised "Sports Law of the People’s Republic of China" was reviewed and approved. This is the first comprehensive and systematic revision of the law in nearly 27 years since it was promulgated and implemented in 1995. This revision targets new situations, new conditions and new problems, and solves major basic and overall problems in the field of sports from a legal perspective.

  The sports arbitration system stipulated in the Sports Law became a reality in February 2023. The China Sports Arbitration Commission was established in Beijing to resolve disputes in the sports field in accordance with laws and regulations and safeguard the construction of a sports power. As of January 31, 2024, the Commission has accepted 24 sports arbitration applications and has heard 6 cases.

  ——Persist in the fight against doping and cultivate a culture of integrity and honesty.

  Xi Jinping has always been concerned about the issue of sportsmanship and discipline. He stressed that we must resolutely advance the fight against doping, strengthen the awareness of winning gold medals with morality, style, and cleanliness, and resolutely achieve "zero occurrence" and "zero tolerance" of doping problems. At the end of 2020, doping-related illegal acts were officially "criminalized", taking a historic step in China’s fight against doping.

  "Adhere to zero tolerance for doping" is also one of the requirements for clean hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Xi Jinping proposed the concept of "green, shared, open and clean" hosting of the Games. China strictly implements it, practices thrift, eliminates corruption and improves efficiency, creating a model of pure Olympics and reflecting the construction of political civilization with the light of sports.

  ——Persist in anti-corruption and promote the healthy development of sports

  In order to create a new atmosphere of integrity and honesty, Chinese sports are "scraping the bone to cure the poison". In 2023, several people, including former senior and middle-level officials of the Chinese Football Association and football practitioners, were dismissed in the anti-corruption storm, demonstrating China’s determination to purify the environment, fight corruption and punish evil, and promote the rectification of the industry.

  The fight against corruption in the sports system has been deepened, and the corrupt behavior of "taking advantage of the sports system" has been severely punished. The sports field has sent a strong signal that corruption must be fought and accountability must be held accountable. It has always maintained a high-pressure situation in combating corruption, promoted the integration of not daring to be corrupt, not being able to be corrupt, and not wanting to be corrupt, resolutely eradicated the bad atmosphere in the sports industry, and created a clean and upright sports political ecology.

  ——Adhere to scientific and technological innovation and build a better life.

  Xi Jinping pointed out that in today’s world, science and technology play an increasingly prominent role in competitive sports. To build a strong sports nation, we must achieve high-level self-reliance and self-improvement in sports science and technology.

  Scientific and technological innovation has become the core engine and strategic support for promoting high-quality development of sports, playing a key role in the manufacturing and research and development of high-end sports instruments and equipment, improving the scientific level of competitive sports, promoting the intelligent development of national fitness, and realizing the quality upgrade of the sports industry.

  The preparation and hosting process of the Beijing Winter Olympics is a concentrated display of cutting-edge technology: for the first time in Olympic history, robots passed the torch underwater, the first domestically-made snow wax vehicle was unveiled, the National Speed ​​Skating Oval "Ice Ribbon" used carbon dioxide ice-making technology to create the "fastest ice", and snow events achieved minute-level and hundred-meter-level precise weather forecasts... A total of 80 scientific research projects were arranged and deployed in the "Science and Technology Winter Olympics" key project, and 212 technologies were applied in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

  The integration and symbiosis of sports and technology have brought real benefits to people’s lives. The application of technologies such as the Internet, the Internet of Things, big data, virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence has provided more possibilities for individuals to improve their sports performance, prevent sports injuries, facilitate fitness and watching games, and enrich sports experience.

  Chapter 4: Writing a New Chapter for Humanity - The World Value of Xi Jinping’s Important Discussions on Sports

  Sports is a complex social and cultural phenomenon with a long history in the history of the development of both Chinese and Western civilizations. After more than 100 years of development, modern sports have become one of the important symbols for measuring the development and progress of a country and society, and have the function of a "universal language" that transcends cultural barriers such as nationality, language, and religion, and have become an important means of diplomatic and cultural exchanges between countries and regions.

  The world today is facing a major change that has not been seen in a century. The international situation is becoming increasingly complex and changeable, with multiple crises and various challenges intertwined and superimposed. Modern sports, with its advocated concepts of unity, peace, tolerance and equality, are striving to play an increasingly important role on the international stage. From the "One World, One Dream" of the Beijing Olympics to the "Together Towards the Future" of the Beijing Winter Olympics, China has always expressed the desire and expectation of the world to move towards a better future together. Through sports, China is playing an increasingly active role on the international stage, and the international community has also better understood and identified with China through sports. Xi Jinping said: "In today’s world, countries are interdependent and share weal and woe. We must inherit and carry forward the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, build a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at its core, and create a community with a shared future for mankind."

  Through unremitting efforts and exploration, China has built a Chinese paradigm for the development of modern sports, contributing Chinese wisdom and injecting Chinese power to the development of the Olympic movement, global sports and the progress of human civilization.

  4.1 Reference and integration: China has its own path to sports development

  Modern sports are the product of industrial civilization dominated by the West since the 19th century. The contemporary international sports framework and order have also been gradually formed in the past 100 years. However, countless historical experiences have proved that any single development model will eventually become rigid. International sports, which have been developing in a uniform and homogeneous manner for a long time, have entered a new stage of globalization. More diverse and balanced sports culture is needed to join in to achieve sustainable development. British scholar Richard Giulianotti uses the "glocalization" theory to explain the global development of modern sports. He believes that in global sports, on the one hand, there is a convergence process, that is, the homogenization of the "form" of sports; on the other hand, there is a divergence process, that is, the heterogeneity of the "content" of sports (such as sports technology, sports aesthetics, sports norms, sports values, etc.), which is closely related to the "bottom-up" sports development path.

  Chinese-style modernization has created a new form of human civilization. In the new era, China has initially formed its own sports development model in the process of modernization. This model has similarities with previous sports development models in terms of structure, function, and operation mechanism, but also has characteristics different from any other country.

  Table tennis is called China’s "national sport", but it did not originate from China. This "table tennis" game, which was originally popular in British universities in the late 19th century, was brought to China by a Shanghai stationery store owner in the early 20th century. From "imported goods" to "national sport", and then to cultural "export", the development and evolution of table tennis in China, until the formation of a table tennis culture with Chinese characteristics, and the different roles played by China in different stages of the development of this sport, are a microcosm of the vicissitudes of Chinese sports in the development of modern sports - starting from learning from the West, combining traditions and national conditions, forming its own characteristics, and opening up a new world.

  The Beijing Winter Olympics is an all-round display of China’s sports development path to the world, and also shows the duality of global localization. Xi Jinping’s "green, shared, open and clean" Olympic hosting concept is a Winter Olympics preparation strategy under the guidance of the Communist Party of China’s new development concept, and is also a powerful implementation of the Olympic Agenda 2020, with outstanding contributions to the world. Bach said that China has opened a new era of global winter sports.

  On the one hand, we embrace the world and learn from its advanced experience; on the other hand, we base ourselves on the local situation and combine our own traditional culture and characteristics. The Chinese sports development path provides reference and inspiration for developing countries to embark on a sports development path that is in line with their own traditions and national conditions.

  Chinese sports are people-centered sports. Xi Jinping pointed out: "To accelerate the construction of a sports power, we must adhere to the people-centered idea, take the people as the main body of sports development, take satisfying the people’s fitness needs and promoting the all-round development of people as the starting point and end point of sports work, implement the national strategy of national fitness, and continuously improve the health level of the people."

  Chinese sports are a sport that constantly pursues excellence. In recent years, Chinese athletes have amazed the world, demonstrated China’s speed, and marked China’s height. In addition to continuing to excel in traditional advantageous events such as diving, gymnastics, and table tennis, the comprehensive strength in basic major events such as track and field and swimming is also constantly increasing, and breakthroughs have been made in non-advantageous events with great international influence such as tennis.

  Chinese sports are comprehensive and coordinated sports. Xi Jinping pointed out: "my country’s sports undertakings, together with other social undertakings, have added impetus and gathered strength for the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and building a prosperous, democratic, civilized and harmonious modern socialist country." In the new era, Chinese sports are fully integrated into economic and social development, with comprehensive and coordinated development in the fields of mass sports, competitive sports, and sports industry, balanced development between urban and rural areas and between regions, and coordinated development with other social fields such as education, medical care, science and technology, tourism, and elderly care, bringing huge kinetic energy to the whole society.

  The world is in a state of flux. As more and more countries in the global South forge their own paths in the field of sports, the diversity of sports culture and sports paths will inject continuous momentum into the development of global sports and even the process of human modernization. This also means that a multipolar world is accelerating.

  4.2 Inclusion and cohesion: inspiring the power of sports to build a better world

  Sports has a huge cross-cultural appeal, "just like love, truth and art, it is also a medium that unites people". This characteristic opens the door of opportunity for sports to change the world. On August 23, 2013, the 67th General Assembly of the United Nations decided to designate April 6 as the "International Day of Sport for Development and Peace" to promote sports as a universal platform for promoting education, health, social inclusion, youth progress, peace and sustainable development.

  In today’s world, chaos and turmoil are intertwined, turmoil is intensifying, bigotry, xenophobia and confrontation continue to rise, and various global challenges are emerging one after another. Humanity needs the power of sports to tolerate differences and unite people more than ever before. It is China’s responsibility as a responsible major country to work with other countries to build a better world and move towards a community with a shared future for mankind through sports.

  ——Eliminating conflicts and promoting peace through sports

  At the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, a team of only 32 athletes received two standing ovations from the audience. Syria, a country that has suffered from more than a decade of war, overcame numerous difficulties and traveled thousands of miles to attend this grand event of peace and friendship. The Chinese people, who know that peace is hard-won, expressed their support and respect for the "messengers of peace" with cheers and applause.

  In ancient times, the Olympic Games used the olive branch crown, a symbol of peace, as a "gold medal". The modern Olympic Movement aims at "peace, friendship and progress". "Promoting peace through sports" is the mission of the Olympic Movement and the responsibility of Chinese sports in the new era. As the competition among major powers and regional conflicts intensify, and as some "fragile countries" struggle in the quagmire of civil war, China has made clear its position of "keeping in mind the original intention of the Olympic Movement, jointly safeguarding world peace, insisting on mutual respect and equal treatment, and jointly building a world of lasting peace". It has also called for "promoting peace through sports, insisting on good neighborliness and mutual benefit and win-win results, and resisting the Cold War mentality and camp confrontation". It has also sent a signal of peace to the world and gathered forces for peace through solid actions such as hosting large-scale international events and conducting bilateral sports exchanges.

  The world has entered a period of great change over the past century. We should especially remember the role of sports in preventing conflicts and building peace. It can build identity and trust among different groups and prevent these groups from turning to hostility and hostility. It can prevent radicalization and extremism and is an effective tool for promoting dialogue and reconciliation.

  ——Sharing achievements and promoting development through sports

  The landmark United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines the significance of sport for development as follows: “Sport is an important driver of sustainable development.” The Agenda recognizes that “sport increasingly contributes to achieving development and peace as it promotes tolerance and respect, empowers women and youth, individuals and communities, and helps achieve goals in health, education and social inclusion.”

  As the world’s second largest economy and the largest developing country, China has shared development achievements and opportunities with other countries through sports. The Beijing Winter Olympics became the first Olympic Games to implement the sustainability requirements of the Olympic Agenda 2020 throughout the entire process, and the "green technology" has left a deep impression on the world. Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has carried out extensive sports exchanges and cooperation with co-construction countries, jointly promoted the development of regional sports, and contributed to the health and well-being of the people of co-construction countries.

  In January 2024, the 34th African Cup of Nations opened at the Olympic Stadium in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. This largest stadium in Cote d’Ivoire, which can accommodate 60,000 spectators, was built with Chinese aid. Three of the six venues for this African Cup were built by Chinese companies. In Rwanda, the Amahoro National Stadium built with Chinese aid has become an important place for Rwandan people to relax and have fun.

  Giving fish to a man is not just giving him fish, but also teaching him how to fish. China has not only built and donated a large number of stadiums and sports infrastructure for countries and regions in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific, but also provided sports talent assistance to developing countries to help them improve their sports and competition levels. Xi Jinping said: "Civilizations are colorful because of exchanges, and civilizations are enriched by mutual learning. Exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations are an important driving force for the progress of human civilization and world peace and development."

  ——Enhance friendship and promote unity through sports

  Beijing Winter Olympics, Chengdu Universiade, Hangzhou Asian Games... From 2022 to 2023, during the difficult period when the world has not yet fully recovered from the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has kept its promises and held a number of international sports events in succession, injecting new vitality into the global sports industry and bringing confidence to the turbulent world. More importantly, at a time when experts warn that the world is heading towards a "great division", sports events have demonstrated the possibility of "greater unity" for mankind.

  Share the fruits of development and create a better future. Through sports, China’s cooperation with countries and regions around the world is becoming increasingly frequent and in-depth. Taking the preparation and hosting of the Winter Olympics as an opportunity, China has focused on strengthening exchanges and cooperation with European and American ice and snow powers such as Norway, Finland, the United States, Canada, and Russia; through hosting the first BRICS Games, China’s cooperation with Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and other countries has been injected with richer connotations; through hosting the Military World Games, China has made the world know Wuhan, and also made the world know China better. The Chinese concepts of "stopping war with force" and "peaceful development" conveyed through the Military World Games have also contributed Chinese wisdom to the world’s "greater unity".

  "More solidarity" is also the direction of international sports efforts. The 138th International Olympic Committee General Assembly voted to add "more solidarity" after the Olympic motto "faster, higher, stronger". From fighting the epidemic to recovering the economy, to addressing climate change, the whole world needs the power of solidarity. Obviously, in today’s world, nothing can bring the world’s countries and nations closer together than modern sports. It is a glue and a rainbow bridge that connects the vast majority of people of different races, regions, cultures, and ideologies, allowing them to put aside their prejudices and tolerate differences in sports interactions, and "move towards the future together."

  ——Fair competition, promoting governance through sports

  Fair competition is one of the core concepts of modern sports. In sports competitions, no matter what race, religion or wealth an athlete has, they must abide by the same rules and standards.

  Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, said: "The Olympic Games provide the world with an ideal for coping with real life, and also contain the possibility of guiding this reality towards the great Olympic ideal." The sports values ​​of fair competition, compliance with rules, and respect for opponents can also be used to guide the construction of human political, economic and social life. This is particularly meaningful in the field of great power competition.

  In addition to demonstrating fair political competition through fair sports competition, another meaning of promoting justice through sports is to promote the construction of a more just and reasonable new international sports order. The "center-semi-periphery-periphery" world system proposed by American sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein also has explanatory power for the global order of sports power. However, with the shift of the world’s political and economic center of gravity, the sports field has also begun to change. More and more countries in the global South have won the right to host the Olympics and other major international events. They have not only established an open and modern national image in the world, but also increased their participation, influence and voice in the decision-making of international sports affairs.

  China is an important force for change in the remarkable changes in global sports governance. The academic community believes that the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is the result of the Olympism, which was based on Western culture as a one-dimensional value, beginning to develop in a multi-dimensional and multi-valued direction. In the new era, China is more proactive in cooperating with international organizations, more actively participating in international sports activities, hosting large-scale international events more frequently, and the number of people serving in international sports organizations is increasing. Its role in international sports affairs is constantly increasing, and its influence and voice in global sports governance are constantly increasing.

  The Chinese-style sports development path is a new path explored by China, which contains far-reaching world significance and is a great gift from China to human civilization. On this path, sports are not only a competition among elites, but also the welfare of the whole people; not only a stage for competition, but also a driving force for society; not only a display of national strength, but also a fusion of cultures. Sports promote peace, development, unity and governance. On this path, sports are people-oriented, comprehensive and coordinated, green development, and harmonious coexistence, telling the yearning of all mankind for peace, friendship and progress in a Chinese way. With sports as a medium, China has established a partnership of equality and mutual understanding with countries around the world, established a development vision of harmony but difference, mutual tolerance and mutual benefit, jointly safeguarded fairness and justice in world sports, and jointly built a community with a shared future for mankind.

  Conclusion

  All epoch-making theories are products that meet the needs of the times. Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports, which originated from and guided practice, put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies, and profoundly revealed the basic laws of contemporary Chinese sports development and the basic laws of human sports development. They not only pointed out the direction for the development of China’s sports industry, but also provided valuable experience for the development of global sports industry.

  These important expositions are closely linked to the strategic positioning of "striving to build sports into a landmark cause of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation", pointing out the functional role of "sports is an important way to improve people’s health level, an important means to meet people’s yearning for a better life and promote people’s all-round development, an important driving force for promoting economic and social development, and an important platform for displaying the country’s cultural soft power". They emphasize the development idea of ​​"taking the people as the main body of sports development, taking satisfying people’s fitness needs and promoting people’s all-round development as the starting point and end point of sports work, implementing the national strategy of national fitness, and constantly improving people’s health level", pointing out the path of promoting "promoting the coordinated development of mass sports, competitive sports, and sports industry", and constructing a systematic and complete theoretical system.

  Xi Jinping’s important expositions on sports not only provide a profound analysis and directional guidance for the development of sports at the theoretical level, but also put forward a series of forward-looking specific measures at the practical level. Through systematic theoretical design and comprehensive practical guidance, China’s sports industry has not only achieved remarkable achievements at home, but also demonstrated its unique charm on the international stage, contributing valuable experience and wisdom to the development of global sports.

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