What changed
China’s State General Administration of Sport said outdoor-sports participation exceeded 500 million by the end of 2025, while the related industry reached about 3.17 trillion yuan. The report, published October 17, also counted about 375,000 market entities and described rapid growth in facilities, events and outdoor destinations.
Why it matters
This is no longer a niche built around occasional hiking trips. It is becoming a large network of businesses, public spaces and local tourism projects.
National fitness trails now number 182,000, stretching 430,300 kilometres. Ice-and-snow venues reached 2,626, up 39% from the end of the previous five-year period. During the 2025–2026 season, 308 million people took part in ice-and-snow sports, with related consumption estimated at about 205 billion yuan, up roughly 9.3%.
The expansion is also changing where outdoor activity happens. China is building 49 high-quality outdoor-sport destinations, while events are reaching counties and townships. Organisers are combining cycling, open-water swimming and trail running with local landscapes and cultural experiences. That gives local authorities a practical way to turn mountains, rivers and older industrial or village assets into places people visit and spend money.
Technology is joining the same push. Carbon fibre, lightweight materials, smart accessories, artificial intelligence, industrial internet systems and 5G are entering equipment production and management. New products shown at an outdoor experience park included a BeiDou-based event-management system, new-energy recreational vehicles and smart first-aid equipment.
The scale is striking, but the 3.17 trillion yuan figure should not be read as a direct measure of consumer spending alone. What is clearer is the direction: participation, infrastructure and commercial activity are expanding together, even though the report does not establish whether participation will continue rising at the same pace.
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