On a State-Sponsored Sport System in China

Abstract

The gold medal success of China in recent Olympic Games can be traced to the advancement of the state-sponsored sport system (SSSS). While the program was developed initially through socialist ideals, it is more than a centralized government system to monopolize resources for glorified sport performance. Participation in competition is an inherent part of the human condition. Success in athletics is associated with national identity and has economic, social, and cultural implications. Because of this, it is essential that the SSSS adjust and improve to keep pace with other facets of China’s quickly changing national reform. In association with emerging economic reform, some sports now receive equal or more funds from private investments compared to government allocation. The state-sponsored sport system must continue to adapt to maintain the Chinese tradition of excellence in competition.

In 1984, China sent its first delegation to the Los Angeles Olympic Games, where China finished fourth in the gold medal stand. In the following Olympic Games in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, China stood firm in the first four places. The excellent performances of the Chinese athletes in the Olympic Games have not only promoted China’s influence on international sport in recent years, but also consolidated its leading role as a sport power in the world, thanks to the successful practice of its state-sponsored system in sport.

The state-sponsored sport system, or SSSS, is a child of socialism at its initial stage, suitable for the fundamental characteristics of the Chinese nation and adaptive to the development goals and strategies of the competitive sport in the country. By definition, the mission of the SSSS is to pool together the finite manpower, financial resources and material to bring every positive factor into full play. It requires the effective disposing of national resources to competitive sports to produce excellent athletic results. There is an argument that the SSSS is a reflection of the country’s planned economic system and some even argue that the SSSS is but a centralized system in which the government monopolizes everything regardless of costs and people. The argument involves the knowledge of the values and ends of competitive sport. It also relates to the methodology to have the end met.

The core matter is whether or not the government should be highly involved in the organization of competitive sport and attach great importance to this kind of sport and world records.

There is an opinion that sport should stay away from politics and simply remain a game. Some argue that the country is already having too much trouble and enough work and therefore it is simply not worthwhile to waste so much money on competitive sport and a few gold medals. To answer this question, we have to approach the issue from both historical and dialectical perspectives.

To begin with, to participate and to win is a core value of the competitive sport. It is an indication of human development and progress as well the symbol of the spirit and will of the mankind.

Secondly, sport can not be separated from the nation’s identity and ideology. The rise of the nation means the rise of its sport and there can be no sport in a weak nation, a lesson learned by the Chinese through their painful personal experience. Competitive sport at the international level, especially between the sport powerhouses, can lead to multiple implications. Therefore, only through economic, social and cultural perspectives, could one fully understand the overall benefits of competitive sport.

While the SSSS’ creation in China is an inevitable result of circumstances, it does not necessarily mean that the system itself is free from defects. It is fair to say that each management system has its pros and cons, and even the fairly advanced systems in developed countries have their own drawbacks.

We realize it is natural and normal for a system to have defects. China’s SSSS is no exception with its own strong points, weaknesses and room for improvement. And quick transition is essential especially for today’s China, which is making the transition from the planned economy to the market economy in order to adapt to the demands and bring out the best of the new market mode.

As China’s economic reform goes further, the disadvantages of the SSSS are gradually exposed. Examples include high administrative costs with weak control and low efficiency rate, the absence of incentives and safeguards mechanisms for athletes and their coaches, rigid competition structure as well as low tech training methods. It is obvious that the SSSS needs to be reformed and improved because only change can lead to progress.

Judging from the current trends, the reform is beginning to infuse the SSSS with new blood. Firstly, a new pattern has been set up with investment from the state, social communities and individuals. Some sports with great market potential have generated, via marketing, more funds than those coming from the government. Quite a number of sport competitions are now managed by private companies and individuals. According to statistics, almost half of the projects administered by the State Sport General Administration are financed by marketing, while the contributions of social communities account for nearly 50% of the administrative expenses of the local sport authorities. In some regions, marketing revenues have outweighed the state financial allocation.

As such, we can conclude that China’s SSSS is not immutable and frozen.

In its drive to become a sport powerhouse, the country has continued to adopt the name SSSS, because the system is not only part of the fine Chinese tradition and effective operational mode but also a cohesive and mobilizing force. What needs be done is to step up the transition of the government’s functions and deepen the reform of the management systems of the sport authorities so that the SSSS can be adapted to the needs of the new market-oriented system as well as the reform of the sport structure.

Finally, the reform and improvement of SSSS have to fall in line with the country’s economic and political reforms. China’s overall reform is an accumulative process and therefore it requires the reform of the SSSS to run its natural course, fast but steady.

To conclude, the SSSS must be upheld and improved. The impressive gold medal standing China experienced in previous Olympic Games would not have been possible without the SSSS. To weaken the current system would likely decrease performance levels on sport’s grandest stage. To adapt and enhance the state-sponsored sport system has significant promise to maintain China’s tradition of excellence in international competition.