Li says fitness, internet learning emphasized

State Council executive meeting plans intended to help raise living standards

China will vigorously promote the growth of sports fitness and online education as part of efforts to raise living standards, the State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday.

"Fitness and sports consumption, as well as online education, are important means of expanding domestic demand, catalyzing economic transformation and improving people's living standards. There is tremendous potential in these areas. We must do more to fully unlock the potential," Li said.

Making more sports facilities available for public use was urged at the meeting, as well as providing differentiated fitness products to people of different age groups, encouraging them to get in the habit of working out.

All sporting events that meet the required conditions currently hosted by the national sports associations will be handed over to market players. Sports competitions for teenagers among schools will be encouraged. Private entities will be supported in investing in the construction of sports facilities and their lawful rights and interests will be protected.

The number of sports fields and facilities will be increased, and it was urged at the meeting that government-invested, newly built sports stadiums be entrusted to third parties for operation.

"Fitness and sports consumption is a new growth area that has come to the fore as the economy has reached a certain stage. China is still much behind developed countries in this regard, yet our people's wishes and demand for such consumption have been steadily increasing. Fitness and sports consumption should also be advanced in tandem with enhancing the fitness of the people," Li said.

Meeting participants also dis-cussed measures to promote online education.

Internet Plus Education - the use of information technology in teaching - will be promoted, and various types of eligible market players will be encouraged to develop online education.

By 2022, all schools will be connected to fast and stable internet services. Development of diversified online educational resources targeting poor areas will be supported. Meanwhile, regulation and oversight will be strengthened to effectively protect the rights and interests of consumers.

"There is now a high need for online education and training. We must build dedicated networks with higher speeds for education and facilitate the sharing of quality educational resources to promote equity in education," Li said.

With the remarkable advances of modern information technology in recent years, online education has seen fast expansion in China. The market for online education and training was valued at some 250 billion yuan ($35 billion) last year.