Chinas sports have undergone several thousand years of development. But they were not regarded as an undertaking of the country until 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of sports. Now, a nationwide network for physical culture and sports has been set up and expenditure on this field has been included in the state budget.

The purpose of developing physical culture and sports in China is to popularize sports among the people and enhance their physique so as to prevent "the infection of various diseases such as SARS.

Besides, it is to improve the sporting skills of the country as a whole and create new records, thus helping to promote the country's economic as well as ethical and cultural development.