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Fatter wallets feed fitness industry
By Zhang Feng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-15 06:03

More people, especially those in developed cities like Beijing and Shanghai, are expected to spend more money at the profit-making fitness centres in the coming years.

In 1995, the average expenditure on entertainment, fitness and education for an urban family, was about 312 yuan (US$38), by 2003 that figure had more than tripled, Zhang said.

The combined number of profit-making and not-for-profit fitness sites in the country is still not yet enough to meet the quickly increasing demand, he said.

In China, on average, there are 6.58 sports facilities per 10,000 people.

In developed countries, including the US and Japan, the figure is around 200 sports facilities per 10,000 people.

"The Chinese sports and fitness industry is still just starting and has a lot of opportunities ahead of it," Zhang Haifeng, spokesman for the General Administration of Sport, told China Daily.

And compared with other specialized industries, such as telecom and insurance, the sports and fitness business is comparatively open to foreign investment and co-operation, the spokesman said.

It is estimated that the value of China's sports and fitness industry will reach at least 28.12 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion) in the year 2010, Zhang Faqiang said.

Meanwhile, Zhang Faqiang noted that the State General Administration of Sports of China has spent 60 per cent of the public welfare fund from the sports lottery sales each year on National Fitness Programme projects,

(China Daily 07/15/2005 page2)


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