Sports tourism, diplomacy and ‘soft power': the Chinese case

Abstract

In October 2014, China launched the policy "Opinions for accelerating the development of the sports industry and promoting sports consumption"(国务院关于加快发展发展促进体育消费消费 的若干意见). Since then, other public policies have been published to leverage the growth of the country's sports industry by promoting the development of strategic sectors to meet its goal, of generating US$ 813 billion for the country's economy by 2025. Two of these public policies are the "Medium and long-term football development plan (2016-2050)"(中国足球中长期发展规划[2016-2050 年]) and the "Action plan for the development of sports tourism 'Belt and Road' (2017-2020) "(一带一路"体育旅 游发展行动方案2017-2020"). This paper, based on a literature review and analysis of these policy documents, seeks to identify the common points in the two initiatives; observing how they contribute to the development of the Chinese sports industry while serving as a diplomatic and 'soft power' tool.