Shenzhen will allocate 200 million yuan (28.76 million US dollars) each year until 2020 to host high-level sports competitions to promote the sports industry and encourage residents to participate in more sports, according to a sports development plan released by the city government recently.

To encourage more diversified ways of organizing sports games and activities, the city’s sports bureau has decided to lower the requirements for other social forces, including enterprises and social organizations, to hold such games in recent years.

Under a more open and supportive environment, the social sports organizations have been constantly making contributions by introducing and organizing high-level sports events, some of which are famous around the world.

With the government’s guidance, there has been an increasing number of influential social organizations for sports in Shenzhen. Some famous names include the Shenzhen Social Sports Instructor Association, Shenzhen Cycling Association and Shenzhen Taekwondo Association.

The Shenzhen Mountaineering & Outdoor Sport Association stood out among its counterparts around the country due to its efforts in compiling textbooks on outdoor mountaineering. The association is also authorized to carry out rescue missions in mountainous regions.

In recent years, the city has introduced and organized such international games as the WTA Shenzhen Open, ATP Shenzhen Open, NBA preseason games, U.I.M. World Championship and Shenzhen International (golf).

Aside from Shenzhen, sports is now one of China’s most dynamic industries, having experienced double-digit growth in recent years, according to a Xinhua report in April last year.

In developed countries, the sports industry makes considerable contributions to the economy, generally contributing 1-3 percent of the GDP, and plays an important role in creating jobs. In comparison, China’s sports industry is still in its infancy and has a lot of room to grow.

In September 2014, Premier Li Keqiang mapped out the plan for speeding up the development of the sports industry, which included boosting sports consumption and promoting public fitness at a State Council executive meeting. On Oct. 20, the State Council unveiled a guideline named “Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption.”

As a result, the General Administration of Sports has loosened its hold on administrative examination and approval of commercial and mass sports events.

Meanwhile, local administrations are eager to set up local sports industry bases. So far, nine provinces have constructed sports industry bases and 12 provinces and regions are about to join them.

It is expected that by 2020, the total scale of the sports industry in China will be more than 3 trillion yuan (431.65 billion US dollars) and the proportion of the sports industry’s added value to GDP will be 1 percent, Xinhua said.