Keywords: moderately prosperous society    national fitness    sports rights    human rights    sports law

 

 

On December 10, 2018, at a symposium commemorating the 70th anniversary of the publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his congratulatory letter that “No human right is more important than the right to a happy life.” To complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects is to ensure the well-being of the people in all respects, and it is an important path to realizing the right to a happy life. In 2012, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China set the grand goal of completing the construction of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Throughout history, the CPC has gradually deepened its understanding of the content of a moderately prosperous society, which was embodied in the transition from the proposal of a moderately prosperous society to an overall well-off society, and from the “all-round construction of” to “completing the all-round construction of” a moderately prosperous society.  2020 is the year in which China will realize the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. During the journey to achieve this, the state has introduced a number of measures in various fields to advance the completion of the all-round construction of a moderately well-off society. One of these, is the promotion of physical fitness to a national strategy which was proposed at the 16th CPC National Congress, along with the fostering of a relatively developed modern national education system and medical and health system, as one of the goals of building a moderately well-off society in an all-round way. Therefore, it is obvious that national fitness is part of a holistic health strategy in contemporary China, and that sports rights play a considerable role in this and thus in promoting the realization of the grand goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

 

With the advent of the new era and the all-round rapid development in politics, economy, culture, science and technology, on the basis that their general human rights are guaranteed, people have increasingly varied needs for a better life,  and in particular, there are increasing needs for health, recreation and other aspects, which results in the emergence of some new human rights. The right to health and the right to sport are receiving increasing focus in the emerging human rights field. The Outline of the “Healthy China 2030” Plan issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in 2016 indicated that “to achieve a healthy and long life for the people is an important symbol of national prosperity and rejuvenation.” In addition to medical care, the health of individual citizens is also closely related to fitness and sports. 

 

Without health for all, there will be no moderately well-off society in all respects. Health for all, national fitness and completing the all-round construction of a moderately prosperous society are mutually integrated and are being advanced in a coordinated way. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has adhered to the people-centered approach to development and made “health for all” an important part of completing the all-round construction of a moderately well-off society, striving to provide the people with all-round and full-cycle health services that integrate medical care, sports and various types of social security. In 2013, when meeting with representatives at the Commendation Meeting for National Advanced Organizations and Individuals for Mass Sports and the Commendation Meeting for Advanced Collectives and Workers in the National Sports System, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that “Developing sports and strengthening people’s physique are the fundamental policies and tasks of China’s sports efforts. National fitness is the foundation and guarantee for all people to enhance their physique and live a healthy life. People’s health is an important content of completing the building of a moderately well-off society in an all-round way and an important basis for everyone to make personal progress and realize a happy life. We should carry out nationwide fitness campaigns on an extensive basis, promote the all-round development of mass sports and competitive sports, and ensure the realization of citizens’ sports rights with high quality and efficiency.”  Sports are part of life, and fitness guarantees health. National fitness is one of the most economical, convenient and efficient ways to improve the overall physical quality and health level. It is a key part of the “Healthy China” national strategy and contributes to completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

 

 

The goal of education, culture and society is to “significantly improve the ideological and ethical standards, scientific and cultural quality and health quality of the whole nation, establish relatively developed modern systems of national education, scientific and cultural innovation, and national fitness and medical health, have people enjoy access to good education, basically make high school education universal and eliminate illiteracy. We will also strive to build a learning society characterized by nationwide learning and lifelong learning, and promote well-rounded human development.”  The descriptions show that national fitness is also one of the important goals in China’s endeavor to boost educational, cultural and social development. The realization of the right to sports is equal to the effective realization of citizens’ physical fitness and right to health.

 

 

National fitness is closely related to sports rights, which are among the emerging human rights. The connotation and extension of sports rights are extremely rich and there no unified conclusion has been reached on them. Some scholars, from the perspective of international law, have explored the global universality of sports rights,  while others, from the perspective of constitutional norms, argue that placing sports rights under the category of cultural rights will benefit the realization of citizens’ right to sports and the development of socialist cultural undertakings.  The author defines sports rights as the right that all human beings, regardless of gender, race or nationality, can freely decide whether to participate in sports, what kind of sports to participate in and when to participate in sports by their own will.  In view of the connotation of sports rights, it is obvious that national fitness is a strong reflection of sports rights. 

 

National fitness which has physical exercise as the core element is a specific interpretation of the connotation of sports rights. As an emerging human right, the sports rights are an integral content of human rights. They are closely related to the right to development and reflect the basic value and spirit of sports. The purpose of national fitness is to strengthen and maintain people’s health.  As mentioned earlier, national fitness is one of the effective ways to improve the physical quality of the people and maintain their health. A person’s physical health is affected by many factors. In addition to the well-known factors such as genes, dietary habits, medical technologies, and ecological environment, rest and physical exercise are also important factors. Especially in today’s environment where people pay more attention to the right to health, citizens are showing increasingly greater interest in physical exercise and the state is attaching increasing importance to citizens’ sports rights. From the fitness plan for all, to the national strategy promoting nationwide fitness and to the promulgation and revision of the Regulations on National Fitness, the development of a series of national campaigns shows that physical exercise is being recognized for its health value, and it also shows that the public has an increasingly stronger desire to pursue development rights including sports rights on the basis of the basic rights of survival and freedom being met.  In this way, fitness is closely linked to and equivalent to sports, which means fitness is equal to physical exercise and becomes part of the concept of sports.  Therefore, national fitness, through the core essence of physical exercise and body building, highlights the profound connotation of sports rights.

 

National fitness aimed at guiding and helping citizens to actively participate in sports is an inevitable move toward driving the dynamic and practical operation of sports rights. The national fitness strategy is an essential part of the protection of sports rights in China. The national fitness strategy is intended to guide the public to take an active part in sports, provide various venues and facilities for the masses to realize physical activities, and manifest the attribute of sports rights as positive rights. For example, while the National Human Rights Action Plan (2016-2020) does not explicitly emphasize the protection of citizens’ sports rights, it clearly emphasizes, in the description of “the right to health,” “the implementation of the National Fitness Plan (2016-2020). The aim of this was to promote the building of a 15-minute fitness circle in urban communities and ensure the basic public sports services being available to all permanent residents in townships and towns and physical fitness programs covering all farmers in administrative villages. According to the plan, by 2020, the number of people taking part in physical exercise at least once a week was to reach 700 million and the number of people regularly taking part in physical exercise was to reach 435 million. The average per capita sports space in China was to reach more than 1.8 square meters”.  This highlights the status of national fitness in the protection of the “right to health,” and the national fitness itself belongs to the category of social sports rights in sports rights, and has the dual nature of the protection of the right to health and sports rights. In addition, national fitness also requires that the relevant sports administrative departments should not illegally interfere in the physical exercise activities of the public, and should not arbitrarily impose restrictions or obstructions, which reflects the negative right attribute of national fitness in sports rights.

 

Finally, national fitness, with the “safety valve” function, is an important way to inherit and continue sportsmanship. Sports itself has its own unique role as a “safety valve” for the society. This is of great significance to China, which is building a harmonious society in the period of social transformation.  Sports, as an important part of national health, combines the characteristics of universality and fitness. It highlights the sports that inspire the participation of the whole nation and the general public, with the basic purpose of building up the body and invigorating health, which is a far distinction from the elite sports that emphasizes rare sports talents and competitive sports that focuses on improving the sports level, creating excellence and challenging the limits of the human body. Be it the definition of health from the perspective of “no disease, no weakness and good psychological and social adaptability,” or the definition of physique from the perspective of “stable quality or characteristics based on heredity and manifested in body structure, physiological function, physical performance, psychological factors and social adaptability,” they both involve physical and psychological aspects. Therefore, fitness here is not a concept purely from the perspective of biology, but covers a variety of social, cultural factors and connotations. The “safety valve” function of national fitness is mainly shown in: first, the regulation of physical health; second, the regulation of psychological health; third, an important link in building a harmonious socialist society. As a means to encourage sports activities, national fitness is bound to play a positive role in regulating and improving participants’ physical and mental health. Health plays a positive role in regulating physical and mental health. At the same time, national fitness also acts as an important link in building a harmonious socialist society. The cultural concept of sports embodied by national fitness provides spiritual resources for the construction of a harmonious society.  The teamwork spirit in the national fitness campaign can enhance the cohesion of the public. The basis for maintaining social harmony must be the search for (ideally) non-violent ways to transform conflicts so that the parties are satisfied with the results.  In the process of national fitness, the sportsmanship of fairness, justice and equality will be inherited, continued and valued, which provides the ideological basis and theoretical support for the construction and development of a harmonious society.  National fitness playing the “safety valve” function will encourage more people to participate in different sports activities, so that participants can appreciate the spirit of sportsmanship characterized by fairness, justice and equality, and then integrate this valuable spirit into daily life, which is aligned with human rights protection and the pursuit of building a moderately well-off society in an all-round way. National fitness is an important way to inherit and continue sportsmanship.

 

 

The right to life is the primary human right and the effective maintenance of the right to health is one of the important ways to protect the right to life. National fitness can effectively improve the physical quality of all and enhance their immunity, thus effectively protecting citizens’ right to health. Prior to the appearance of “national fitness,” terms such as “mass sports” and “sports for all” were commonly used. During the early years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, improving people’s health became one of the priority tasks, with a number of measures taken to motivate the whole nation to participate in sports activities. Hence, the term “mass sports” arose and became an integral part of sports efforts. In the mid-1980s, the sports community began to reflect on the policy of “sports committees at or above the provincial level and changed the focus from “improving the sports level,” which was as put forward by the former State Sports Commission for the purpose of participating in the Olympic Games, to paying more attention to the coordinated development of mass sports and competitive sports from a strategic perspective, and then gradually put forward the “national sports strategy.” Subsequently, the expression “national fitness” was adopted as an official term in the work arrangement for 1988 by the former State Sports Commission (now “State General Administration of Sports”). 

 

With the continuous development of society, the economy, politics and culture, the importance of national fitness also became increasingly more prominent. In 1993, the “Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Sports” issued by the former State Sports Commission put forward the institutional reform of mass sports — “developing the National Fitness Plan”. In 1995, the State Council formally promulgated and implemented the Outline of the National Fitness Program based on extensive investigations and considerations. Since then, “National fitness” has been recognized for its importance through a formal institutional document and been more widely promoted. In the same year, China promulgated and implemented the Sports Law of the People’s Republic of China, which specifically stipulated that “sports work should be based on carrying out national fitness activities” and “the state will implement the national fitness program in an all-round way”, which clarified the legal status of “national fitness” for the first time. Then in 2002, the 16th CPC National Congress set the formation of a relatively developed “national fitness system,” along with the formation of relatively developed modern systems of national education, scientific and cultural innovation, and medical and health care, as one of the goals in building a moderately well-off society in an all-round way. In 2009, the State Council set up the “National Fitness Day” and promulgated the Regulations on National Fitness. Since 2011, the State Council has continued to formulate and implement a new National Fitness Program with a five-year cycle, and local governments at or above the county level have formulated and implemented the National Fitness Implementation Plan. In national decision-making and the practice of sports activities, the concept of “national fitness” has been continuously and universally adopted, and it has become a special term widely recognized by the whole society, as well as a standard term used in parallel with “mass sports,” with even higher frequency and wider range of usage. It has also become an important symbol of the country’s efforts to promote mass sports and the flourishing of mass sports.

 

 

In November 2012, the 18th CPC National Congress ushered in a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. China went through profound and fundamental changes in many areas and made all-round and groundbreaking achievements. The reform and development of China’s sports field also faced new opportunities, with new progress achieved. The concepts of “Big Sports” and “Big Masses” became more prominent on the basis of advancing the “sports power” construction, implementing Regulations on National Fitness, and achieving the leapfrog development of national fitness with breakthrough thinking and measures.  National fitness and social development became more closely linked. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core attaches great importance to the relationship between sports efforts and the completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, with specific plans made to promote the reform and development of sports undertakings. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made many important speeches on sports efforts, including stressing that the development of sports should be viewed from the strategic perspective of the country’s overall development: “Strong sports ensures a strong China; a prosperous China ensures thriving sports”; “Promoting the continuous development of sports in China is an important part of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”; and “As an important means to improve people’s health, sports is also an important part of realizing the Chinese dream, and can provide powerful moral strength for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” 

 

It is against the background and layout of the new era that the development of national fitness in China has achieved further strategic upgrading. In October 2014, the State Council issued Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption (Document No. 46 of the State Council), which clearly put forward “upgrading national fitness into a national strategy.” Upgrading national fitness into a national strategy is a major decision made by means of regulatory documents on the basis of implementing the Constitution, Sports Law, Regulations on National Fitness and the rich practice of implementing the national fitness plan, which not only promotes the national fitness to a new legal level in realizing and guaranteeing the status and effects of citizens’ sports rights, but also incorporates the national fitness into the national rule of law system from the perspective of national strategy and pushes the governance of national fitness by law to a new stage and a new realm.  The great reform and development of sports undertakings, represented by national fitness and the emphasis on and protection of sports rights and the right to health in terms of goals and contents, are highly compatible with the goal and significance of completing the building of a moderately well-off society in an all-round way, which shows that completing the building of a moderately well-off society in an all-round way is the inherent demand of the national fitness strategy. It is embodied in two aspects: the value and institutional basis of national fitness in contributing to a moderately prosperous society.

 

 

“Moderately prosperous/well-off” (in Chinese “xiaokang”) is an ancient description derived from the classic The Book of Songs (Great Elegance·People’s Labor) “people also work hard and they can be moderately well-off,” which means that people’s living standards are in a state of abundance and happiness between adequate food and clothing and affluence.  “Moderate prosperity” (xiaokang) in modern times refers to “the economic status of a family that can maintain a moderate standard of living.” Generally speaking, moderate prosperity (xiaokang) is a stage between basic food and clothing and affluence, that is, a state of living with sufficient food and clothing and ample leisure time. This lays a material and time foundation for sports to draw the attention of the public. Only with availability of “both money and leisure” can sports achieve more steady progress, which means, the expectation of a moderately well-off society and the desire for sports share the same source and mutualism in the course of human development.

 

The description about a “moderately well-off society” can be traced back to The Book of Rites, which reflects the social principle of “all under heaven are of one family” in Confucianism. Based on the historical background at that time, people’s expectations about a “moderately well-off society” was a feudal society with private ownership and a socially stable and civilized country. In the new China period, Deng Xiaoping, based on historical materialism, interpreted a “moderately well-off society” as “not rich, but enjoying a happy life. We are a socialist country, and the distribution of income should benefit all the people. No one is too rich, and no one is too poor, so life is generally happy.” The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s standard for measuring wealth is that when the Engel coefficient (the ratio of food expenditure to total household consumption expenditure) is at or above 60% it represents poverty; 50%-60% barely meeting daily needs; 40%-50% a moderately well-off standard of living; 30%-40% the relatively affluent; 20%-30% the rich; below 20% the extremely wealthy.  Within the range between mere subsistence and affluence, China has completed the basic task of building an overall moderately prosperous society. At present, China is in the year of achieving the goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, this endeavor shows a progressive course in its evolution (Table 1). In the process of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, sports, along with economic growth, has gone through a history from emergence, development, maturity to reach the level of a national strategy. In this process, there also arose the concept of “well-off sports,”  which has further driven the flourishing of mass sports. This fully reflects the current and future role of sports in completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, as well as the key conducive role of protecting citizens’ sports rights in completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. In order to achieve the goal of doubling the 2010 GDP and per capita income of urban and rural residents by 2020 and maintaining a medium-high level of economic growth, sports can serve as a green GDP to promote social construction, which lays the foundation for national fitness to fulfill its mission of helping to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

 

The completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the national fitness program are closely connected and mutually reinforcing. Completing the building a moderately prosperous society in all respects has brought good development opportunities for national fitness, which can in turn contribute to the realization of a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way with high quality and efficiency. General Secretary Xi Jinping once said, “National fitness is an important basis for completing the building of a moderately prosperous society.” National fitness is an essential part of social sports, as well as one of the important contents of social sports rights. Therefore, it can be concluded that the effective guarantee of national fitness (social sports rights) is equal to emphasizing the protection of citizens’ sports rights, which further reflects that protecting citizens’ sports rights will contribute to the comprehensive realization of a moderately well-off society with high quality and efficiency. With the building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way advancing, the per capita disposable income of residents across the country has been increasing year by year. Although the growth rate in the first half of 2020 was lower than that in previous years due to the impact of COVID-19, the overall trend has been upward. In 2019, the per capita disposable income nationwide was 30,733 yuan, an increase of 8.9 % over the previous year, or 5.8 % in real terms after adjusting for inflation; the median per capita disposable income  nationwide was 26,523 yuan, up 9.0%. The per capita disposable income of urban residents was 42,359 yuan, an increase of 7.9% over the previous year, or 5.0% in real terms after adjusting for inflation; the median per capita disposable income of urban residents was 39,244 yuan, up 7.8%. The per capita disposable income of rural residents was 16,021 yuan, an increase of 9.6 % over the previous year, or 6.2 % in real terms after adjusting for inflation; the median per capita disposable income of rural residents was 14,389 yuan, up 10.1%.  The increase in material wealth has further stimulated people’s pursuit of other rights to happiness, especially the right to health and sports. Studies have shown that people start to have a need for sports when their per capita income reaches 1,000 US dollars.  Today, China’s per capita income has already exceeded 1,000 US dollars, and people’s demand for sports has increased significantly. The demand for sports promotes the continuous supply of public sports services. After enjoying public sports services, the public will surely feel more motivated to participate in sports activities. In reality, activities such as square dancing and fitness walking have become increasingly popular, leading to the formation of a new way of living.

 

One of the main objectives of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects is to significantly improve the ideological and moral, scientific and cultural, and health quality of the whole nation, and to establish relatively sound modern systems of national education, scientific and cultural innovation, and national fitness and medical health. Therefore, it is fair to say that the purpose of national fitness is aligned with the goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and it is also one of the important ways to achieve the goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. In addition, as an important foundation for completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, national fitness is also reflected in the following two aspects: first, national fitness helps citizens express their practical sports needs and is an important measure reflecting democracy. In the past, national fitness was guided mostly through a “top-down” administrative approach. In the process of completing the building of a moderately well-off society in an all-round way, especially under the background of social governance, the provision and guarantee of various measures for national fitness in the future will place more emphasis on “bottom-up” willingness, and the main sports service provider should decide the specific service content based on the investigation of citizens’ sports needs, so as to reflect the people’s right to enjoy sports and participate in grassroots sports governance; second, the national fitness strategy is conducive to the completion of building a moderately well-off society in an all-round way through its role of fostering cultural prosperity, for example, improved sports venues and facilities at the material level will help upgrade the overall social pattern, sports activities organized at the institutional level can add vitality to social development, and character development at the spiritual level ensures that citizens have a rich inner world. All of this will lend more positive and healthy driving forces to the construction modern socialist society.

 

 

 

The effective protection of sports rights involves three fields: competitive sports, social sports and school sports. National fitness mainly reflects the science-based guidance of the protection of social sports right. Through active guidance, relevant administrative departments are urged to formulate policies and regulations to ensure the effective realization of citizens’ sports rights. Meanwhile, public authorities are urged to actively perform their duties and provide well-developed venues and facilities, as well as institutional conditions, for protecting the sports rights of citizens. 

 

The national video conference on mass sports work in 2020 mentioned that “at present, China’s per capita sports area has reached 1.86 square meters, and the objectives and tasks put forward in the ‘13th Five-Year Plan’ and ‘National Fitness Program’ have been completed ahead of schedule. There are 3.17 million sports venues nationwide, with an average of about 23 per 10,000 people. Among them, the physical fitness project for farmers has covered more than 90% of administrative villages in China. Compared with that at the end of 2013, the number of sports venues increased by about 87%, the total area increased by more than 30%, the number of sports venues per 10,000 people increased by more than 82%, and the per capita sports venue area increased by more than 27%.”  On October 10, 2020, the State Council also issued Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of National Fitness Facilities and the Development of Mass Sports, requiring the preparation of a five-year action plan for shoring up weak spots in the construction of fitness facilities, giving priority to the planning and construction of accessible national fitness centers close to communities, multi-functional sports fields, sports parks, fitness trails, fitness squares, small football fields, etc.  In addition, the requirements for the state to actively provide support measures in the process of realizing citizens’ sports rights are further detailed and clarified. The active duty performance by the relevant administrative departments has effectively guaranteed the realization of citizens’ sports rights, which also reflects the attribute of sports rights as a positive right.

 

Aside from the necessary hardware facilities, the software measures of sports public services are also being constantly improved. In many places, the supply of sports public services has become an important part of the livelihood work of governments at all levels and an important yardstick for measuring local people’s satisfaction with and sense of gain from sports activities. In 2010, Chengyang District of Qingdao planned to build 43 civic sports parks on 2,000 mu of land, which could bring in a revenue of at least 10 billion yuan if used for real estate development. This year, the Maonan nationality has just achieved poverty alleviation for the whole nationality group. Dozens of basketball courts, large and small, have been built in the Maonan Autonomous County of Huanjiang, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The villagers will walk on the basketball court during slack season or after dinner, which allows them to realize their own sports rights anytime and anywhere.  In the Outline for Building a Powerful Country in Sports recently issued by the General Office of the State Council, it is also clearly pointed out that by 2035, fitness will be more close to the people, more convenient and more popular, with the proportion of people who regularly take part in physical exercise reaching over 45%, the per capita sports area reaching 2.5 square meters, and the proportion of urban and rural residents who meet the National Fitness Measurement Standard above 92%.  All the strategic measures of national fitness have promoted the quality and effect of sports rights protection.

 

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to the national call for balancing collective interests, more and more people began to conduct home-based physical exercise while isolating themselves at home. The special requirements of epidemic prevention and control have reduced the physical space for people to participate in national fitness, but greatly expanded the psychological space for people to do physical exercise. Through various forms of online physical education, online sports activities and online sports competitions, it enriches the people’s home life and enhances their physical fitness, and more importantly, it promotes the quality and efficient realization of sports rights in an imperceptible way. In the special period of epidemic prevention and control, following the rule of law and the principle of proportionality, a range of innovative models have been adopted to further guarantee the realization of sports rights for all, which further encourages more people to participate in physical exercise with greater convenience, thereby advancing the implementation and development of the national fitness strategy and the “Healthy China” strategy.

 

In the special period of COVID-19 containment, the national fitness efforts are carried out in line with people’s actual fitness needs. A range of measures have been taken to vigorously promote a science-based approach to physical exercise, organize online sports events, spread fitness concepts and healthy lifestyles, help the public people master sports skills and develop the habit of lifelong fitness, and achieve a reasonable balance between rights protection and rights restriction. For the purpose of epidemic prevention and control, individual sports rights and other private rights have been restricted to some extent. However, the “Internet+National Fitness” model provides a new path for the protection of sports rights and other private rights, which is also an innovative measure for the sports rights protection in the process of completing the building of a moderately well-off society in an all-round way.

 

 

With the continuous progress of science and technology, intelligent facilities are prevalent in our daily life, and national fitness is also developing in an increasingly intelligent way. On August 8, 2020, when the 12th National Fitness Day was approaching, under the guidance and support of the Department of Mass Sports of the General Administration of Sport of China, the national fitness information service platform (www.js365.org.cn) and its WeChat official account jointly developed by the Information Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and the Sports Technology Innovation Center of the scientific research institute Great Team were officially launched. Already available on the platform is information on the open services of tens of thousands of sports facilities, including more than 1,000 large public sports venues subsidized by the central government. The platform integrates resources provided by ChinaSoft International, CITC, CVTE, Sports Web, etc., and has functional modules such as information disclosure of free and low-cost opened stadiums and gymnasiums, venue booking, events, live matches, consultation and guidance about information-based stadium and gymnasium construction and digital supervision.  

 

This platform’s construction embodies the implementation of the requirements in the National Fitness Plan (2016-2020), with regard to promoting “the integration of modern information technologies such as the mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data and the Internet of Things with national fitness...to make national fitness services more convenient, efficient and targeted...improve the guidance for national fitness and the efficiency of supervision over fitness facilities”; it is more of an important measure to implement requirements in the Outline for Building a Powerful Country in Sports, regarding “use the Internet of Things, cloud computing and other new information technologies to promote the integrated application of sports venue booking for events, event information release and business service statistics.” Under the background of normalized epidemic prevention and control, the launch of the national fitness network platform will greatly improve the science-based management level of stadiums and gymnasiums and the public service level for national fitness, and increase the utilization rate of stadiums and gymnasiums. In May 2020, the General Office of the General Administration of Sport issued a Notice on the Implementation of the Technical Specifications for Stadium Information Management Service System and the Data Interface Specifications for National Fitness Information Service Platform, providing guidelines for local governments to implement the two specifications in accordance with local conditions. As the hardware and software facilities of each venue are improved according to the two specifications, more information and data of national fitness services will be added to the platform. At the same time, the platform can be used to supervise the opening of venues and to put forward suggestions for the opening of venues.

 

The intelligent development of national fitness provides more convenient and diversified approaches for the realization of citizens’ sports rights. The effective realization of citizens’ various human rights provides security for the comprehensive completion of a moderately well-off society, which includes not only economic and material prosperity, but also well-to-do status in terms of rights. Only when economic, material and rights development are fully guaranteed can we truly complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

 

 

There can be no moderately well-off society in all respects without health for all, and health for all is also the basis for people’s aspiration for a better life. While guaranteeing the effective realization of citizens’ sports rights, national fitness directly improves the physical quality of the whole nation, promotes the effective realization of the health for all, and then contributes to the high-quality and efficient completion of a moderately well-off society in all respects. In particular, national fitness also contains the connotation of sports rights. The extensive development of national fitness is the emphasis and protection of sports rights, one of the emerging human rights. The smooth progress in completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects in China is closely related to the protection of human rights. When the economy develops to a certain level, the public’s demands for rights will become more prominent, and the implementation of the protection of rights determines the improvement of citizens’ well-being. In this sense, the national fitness strategy is actually an overall strategy for the realization of sports rights in contemporary China. When sports rights represented by national fitness are guaranteed with high quality and efficiency, it will definitely give a strong impetus to the joint endeavor to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

 

(Translated by NIU Huizi)