Illustration: Liu Xiangya/Global Times

The Chengdu World University Games concluded on Tuesday as the curtain was raised for the 15th National Fitness Day. This handover highlights the importance of both competitive sports and the general public's pursuit of healthy lifestyles.

With its focus on benefiting the public and sharing the competition, the Chengdu Universiade not only made dreams come true for athletes but also inspired enthusiasm for wellness and sports. 

The sports legacy left behind by the event is sure to continue benefiting the public for years to come.

People across China have engaged in a wide range of mass fitness activities to celebrate National Fitness Day. 

According to data provided by the General Administration of Sport, around Tuesday, more than 24,000 national fitness events were carried out across the country, with the number of participants estimated to exceed 6.5 million.

Some 800 sports venues, fitness facilities and swimming pools in Shanghai were open to the public free of charge on Tuesday.

The 14th Beijing Olympic City Sports Culture Festival will kick off on August 16, engaging people in a whirlwind of sporting events as the public enjoys the legacy of the world's first dual Olympic city. 

The 14th Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Sports Games also began on Tuesday, with 38 sports opened to the public. 

The enthusiasm for sports will reach a new height in September as a record 12,527 athletes from 45 countries and regions will take part in 40 sports at the Hangzhou Asian Games in East China's Zhejiang Province.

According to the National Fitness Program (2021-2025), the general public will enjoy more convenient physical fitness services by 2025, with full coverage of fitness facilities in counties, towns, and villages within a 15-minute walk. 

The sports industry's market value is also expected to reach 5 trillion yuan.

The broad participation in the national fitness program across the country has ushered China into a new stage of development. 

It is to offer people professional advice and a science-based regime, optimizing athletic performance with a universal standard. 

Ping-pong, seen as a national sport of China, has played a pioneering role in supporting its huge fan base and promoting the development of the sport.

The Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) launched a national athletic performance test for ping-pong in Beijing on Tuesday, providing a benchmark for participants to master their table tennis skills.

Zhang Tengyue, an officer with the CTTA, told the Global Times that the test was split into nine levels with level 1-3 for professionals and level 4-9 for amateurs. 

"Level 9 is for beginners to master basic movements, steps and hitting. We had trial runs in nine provinces in the past two months and over 1,500 people have tried the test," said Zhang.  

"The test is dedicated to promoting the sustainable development of table tennis and providing grassroots players with a scientific and authoritative reference for improving their skills," Zhang noted.

China is known for dominating the sport for decades and its capacity to incubate generations of the world's elite table tennis players. 

The country boasts the largest pool of ping-pong participants at the grassroots level. 

There are about 83 million amateur ping-pong players in China, according to a report by the Beijing Daily. 

In addition to the ping-pong national test, a growing number of community-based sports instructors are guiding people's participation and building a wellness culture across the local communities. 

As of August, there are 6,041 community sports instructors in Xizang, a ratio of 1.65 sports instructors per thousand people. 

They have played a leading role in engaging locals in horse racing, mountaineering and hiking events. 

With more venues open to the public and more professional support for the growing pool of participants, the national mass fitness program is in full swing to benefit the public.

The author is a journalist with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn