China Sports – The 15+ Most Popular Sports in China

The Most Popular Chinese Sports

Find below China national sports, ranked by popularity:

So there you have them, the most popular Chinese sports! Keep reading below to discover some facts about Chinese sports.

What is the National Sport of China?

The national sport of China is Table tennis. While this is not official, table tennis is the most prominent sport in China, so it is de facto the national sport. Table tennis also used to be China’s most successful sport until the 1980s, but this recently changed, as others like volleyball are on the rise.

Learn More About China Popular Sports

China is the most populous country on the planet, with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, even though India is very quickly catching up. It is also one of the very first civilizations on the planet, more precisely in the North China Plain. It is bordered by 14 different countries, which is the biggest number after Russia. While its largest city (and arguably most famous one) is Shanghai, its capital city is Beijing, which counts more than 21,893,000 inhabitants.

An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all China popular sports, and I hope you will love them:

Basketball

The most popular sport in China is, by far and away, basketball. The 2019 FIBA World Cup was hosted in China, and the country is an absolute fan of the sport. In fact, it is by far the most popular spectator sport. Basketball was introduced to China by American YMCA workers just before the 20th century, and only a few years after the sport was invented in Massachusetts.

The main reason for basketball to skyrocket in the country was the arrival of superstar Yao Ming in the NBA, in 2002.

Number of Basketball licensed players in China: 300,000,000 (includes casual players)

Famous Chinese Basketball players: Yao Ming, Yue Sun, Jianlian Yi, Bateer Mengke, Zhizhi Wang, Zhou Qi, Tom Meschery, Sun Yue, Mengke Bateer

Table tennis

The second most popular sport in China is table tennis. While table tennis is the Chinese national sport, it is outclassed by basketball in terms of popularity. Despite this, the sport remains extremely popular, and China has produced a handful of world-class table tennis athletes. In fact, the country has been overly dominant for many years, and lots of the greatest table tennis players of all time come from China, like Deng Yaping, Zhang Jike, and Kong Linghui.

Table tennis was used as a diplomatic tool, most notoriously to meet the United States representatives.

Famous Chinese Table tennis players: Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Zhang Jike, Liu Guoliang, Ma Lin, Wang Liqin, Ding Ning, Wang Hao, Xu Xin, Deng Yaping, Kong Linghui, Wang Nan, Chen Qi

Football

The third most popular sport in China is football. The sport dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, and it is now one of the most popular ones on television. Cuju, a game similar to football, was apparently already played back in 50 BC!

The governing body of football in China is the Chinese Football Association, which was founded after 1949. The football league of China is called the Chinese Super League, and there are quite a few players from other countries that were naturalized Chinese in order to play with the national football team, which still has to find international success.

Famous Chinese Football players: Elkeson, Ricardo Goulart, Alan Carvalho, Wu Lei, Zheng Zhi, Sun Jihai, Jia Xiuquan, Hao Haidong, Fan Zhiyi, Bai He, Feng Xiaoting, Aloísio, Tyias Browning

Badminton

The fourth biggest sport in China is badminton. Badminton is one of the most popular sports in Asia, and China is no exception to that. You will quickly realize this, but the country is a fan of many racquetball sports.

The main reason badminton is so popular in China is its simplicity, as well as its inexpensive equipment. Players also don’t need a lot of space to play the sport, and badminton is very often played as a recreational sport.

Many talented professional players have emerged from China nonetheless, most famously the Gold medalists at the BWF World Championships.

Number of Badminton licensed players in China: 100,000,000 (includes casual players)

Famous Chinese Badminton players: Lin Dan, Chen Long, Chen Jin, Zhang Ning, Cai Yun, Xie Xingfang, Yu Yang, Fu Haifeng, Gao Ling, Ma Jin, Zhang Nan, Zhao Yunlei, Shi Yuqi, Ge Fei

Athletics

The fifth most popular sport in China is athletics. China is one of the strongest teams at the Olympic Games, at every edition. The country also organized the 2008 Olympic Games, and its most famous stadium is the bird’s nest National Stadium, which can host up to 91,000 spectators! It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as many track and field events.

Over 8 Summer Olympics, China has won 385 medals, and also 44 medals in 9 Winter Olympics. Winter Olympics are definitely on the rise in the country, and they have a bright future.

Famous Chinese Athletics players: Yin Anna, Cao Shuo, Cheng Wen, Dong Bin, Guo Fan, Huang Xiaoxiao, Jun Zhang, Lao Yi, Li Jinzhe, Li Ling, Li Lingwei, Li Yanfeng, Li Yanmei

Volleyball

The sixth most played sport in China is volleyball. Volleyball was brought to Asia in 1908 and was introduced to China two years later. Now, the sport is overseen by the Chinese Volleyball Association, which was established in 1953.

When it comes to the competitive scene, women’s national volleyball is one of the best in the world. It won 2 Olympic gold medals, in 1984 and 2004, as well as 5 consecutive World titles during the 1980s, which were the golden era of Chinese volleyball. More recently, it claimed the 2015 FIVB World Cup and finished second place at the 2014 FIVB World Championship.

Famous Chinese Volleyball players: Lang Ping, Zhu Ting, Hui Ruoqi, Zhang Changning, Wei Qiuyue, Xu Yunli, Yuan Xinyue, Wang Yimei, Feng Kun, Zhou Suhong, Yang Hao, Ding Xia

Martial arts

The seventh most popular sport in China is martial arts. You must know China for its martial arts. The country has multiple fighting styles that have a very long history. Martial arts were first created for self-defense purposes, as well as military training and hunting techniques. Precise knowledge about the state of Chinese martial arts was provided in the Nanjing era, from 1928 to 1937. Legend says it dates back to more than 4,000 years ago though.

Martial arts is more than a sport in China, it is also a system of ethics. There is a real martial morality, and the two main concepts are deed and mind. The first one is divided into humility, virtue, respect, morality, and trust, and the second one is separated into courage, patience, endurance, perseverance, and will.

Famous Chinese Martial arts players: Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung Kam-Bo, Man Cheuk Chiu, Ha Ling Chun, Wu Jing, Bruce Liang, Michelle Yeoh

Swimming

The eighth most popular sport in China is swimming. China has one of the biggest coastlines on the planet, which is a great reason for swimming to be popular in the country. The sport is growing as a whole, and many Chinese people do it for recreational and fitness purposes, but there is also definitely a competitive side to it.

Nowadays, China is considered an emerging swimming nation, and the first gold medal was attributed to Sun Yang in 2012. He is the first Chinese man to win an Olympic gold medal in the discipline.

Famous Chinese Swimming players: Sun Yang, Fu Yuanhui, Ye Shiwen, Xu Jiayu, Zhang Yufei, Wang Shun, Zhang Lin, Jiao Liuyang, Ning Zetao, Lu Ying, Liu Zige, Pang Jiaying, Shi Jinglin

Tennis

The ninth most popular sport in China is tennis. While China is not a fan of tennis as other racquet sports like badminton or table tennis, nor is the sport as popular in the country as in Europe, the interest is widely growing, and more and more players enjoy it at an amateur level.

The sport is quickly developing thanks to the tournaments held in the biggest cities, like Beijing and Chengdu. The golden era of tennis in China happened during the 2010s when Li Na won both the French Open and Australian Open grand slams.

Number of Tennis licensed players in China: 14,000,000 (includes casual players)

Famous Chinese Tennis players: Li Na, Wang Qiang, Zhang Shuai, Peng Shuai, Zheng Jie, Yan Zi, Li Ting, Sun Tiantian, Zhang Ze, Han Xinyun, Zheng Saisai, Zeng Shaoxuan, Liu Nannan

Cricket

The tenth most popular sport in China is cricket. Cricket is very quickly growing in China. Hong Kong, which is an ancient British colony, is already a fan of the sport, where it is well-established.

The Chinese Cricket Association, which rules over everything related to the sport, joined the International Cricket Council in 2004. Prior to that, the biggest club was the Shanghai Cricket Club. The goal of the Chinese cricket team is now to gain Test status, which is the most prestigious one.

Famous Chinese Cricket players: Huang Zhuo, Caiyun Zhao, Chai Yudian, Han Lili, Li Yingying, Wang Meng, Wu Juan, Zhao Ning, Xiang Ruan, Sun Meng Yao, Song Yang Yang, Reziye, Liu Jie

Golf

The eleventh most popular sport in China is golf. Golf is largely a status sport in China. It is played at an amateur level by business people and officials. These people are the only ones to have access to the sport, sadly. In fact, Communist party officials are banned from playing golf, because the sport is considered a waste of public funds and illegal use of space, which is why no more golf courses are being built.

On the competitive side, many golf tournaments are held in China, like the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, or the Volvo China Open.

Number of Golf licensed players in China: 358,000

Famous Chinese Golf players: Shanshan Feng, Li Haotong, Zhang Xinjun, Dou Zecheng, He Zeyu, Zhang Huilin, Chao Haimeng, Yuan Yechun, Cao Yi

Motor racing

The twelfth most popular sport in China is motor racing. Motor racing is yet another growing sport in China. The main event in the country is the Macau Grand Prix, which has been held since 1954. It is known for its touring car, Formula 3, and superbikes races.

The most successful Chinese motor racer is surely Ma Qinghua, who became the first Chinese driver to win a World Championship. He was also the first Chinese driver to drive a Formula One car at a Grand Prix meeting.

Famous Chinese Motor racing players: Ho-Pin Tung, Ma Qinghua, Ye Yifei, David Cheng, Daniel Cao, Martin Cao, Bo Yuan, Zheng Sun, Yue Cui, Daniel Lu Wenlong, Guan Yu Zhou, Adderly Fong, Anthony Liu

Rugby union

The thirteenth most popular sport in China is rugby union. Rugby union remains a relatively minor sport in China, but it is slowly growing in popularity. China joined the International Rugby Board in 1997, and the national team is ranked 67th. Despite this, the national rugby union team has yet to appear at a World Cup.

Rugby is particularly appreciated in the military in China, and it is an official sport of the People’s Liberation Army. The most notorious Chinese rugby union players are Zhang Zhiqiang and Li Yang.

Number of Rugby union licensed players in China: 76,000

Famous Chinese Rugby union players: Zhang Zhiqiang, Li Yang, Wang Shixue, Fan Xiaolong, Yang Kai, Lu Xiaotang, Liu Xiaohui, Ronnie Gardiner, Zhou Cong, Liu Junkui, Ma Chong, Li Jialin

Wushu

Brandon S / CC BY-NC-ND

The fourteenth most popular sport in China is wushu. Wushu is one of the martial arts in China, but it deserves an entry of its own. It is a professional sport as well as an academic field. It has its own governing body, the Chinese Wushu Association, which was formed in 1958. It is a form of self-defense martial art, and it is a traditional and ancient sport.

China is by far the best nation at the World Wushu Championships: it has won a whopping 232 medals since 1991, including 218 gold ones!

Famous Chinese Wushu players: Wu Bin, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Wu Jing, Jade Xu, Zhao Changjun, Yuan Wenqing

Boxing

The fifteenth most popular sport in China is boxing. The sport was first introduced to the country during the 1920s, and some Chinese fans love watching professional boxing, even though it is far from being the most popular sport. It was first played by foreign sailors in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Chinese boxers use a style similar to Western boxing, but there are influences from traditional Chinese martial arts. The first Chinese male boxer to win a major professional world boxing title was Xiong Zhao Zong, in 2012.

Famous Chinese Boxing players: Zou Shiming, Zhang Xiaoping, Xu Can, Xiong Zhao Zong, Zhang Junlong, Ik Yang, Ma Yiming, Liu Gang, Zhang Zhilei, Hu Qing, Kanat Islam, Yushan Nijiati

Baseball

The sixteenth most popular sport in China is baseball. Baseball has an ancient history in China, as it was brought to the country in 1864. Similar to golf, it was first played in Shanghai, and the Shanghai Baseball Club was the first organization in the country. Sadly, baseball was later disbanded and outlawed by Mao Zedong.

It was only after the end of the Cultural Revolution that baseball activities started again, and the China Baseball Association was subsequently established in 1974.

Famous Chinese Baseball players: Sadaharu Oh, Wei Wang, Jia Yubing, Liu Guangbiao, Zhang Zhenwang, Wang Jingchao, Chu Fujia, Li Lei, Hou Fenglian, Xu Zheng, Li Chenhao, Sun Wei

Snooker

The seventeenth and last most popular sport in China is snooker. Last but not least, the billiards variant, snooker, is a minor sport in China, but it has a loyal fanbase. On top of that, pool and billiards have always been very popular street reaction sports, and snooker has been on the rise in the past few years.

The most notorious Chinese snooker player is definitely Ding Junhui. He used to be the #1 ranked player in the world and finished second place at the 2016 World Snooker Championship.

Number of Snooker licensed players in China: 22 (in the World Snooker Tour), 50,000,000 total (includes casual players)

Famous Chinese Snooker players: Ding Junhui, Cao Yupeng, Yan Bingtao, Xiao Guodong, Liang Wenbo, Bai Langning, Tian Pengfei, Shi Chunxia, Si Jiahui, Niu Zhuang, Mei Xiwen

So there you have them, these were all the major sports in China. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.

In case you want to learn more about sports in other countries, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:

More Sport Facts!

Loved these China sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?

Then check out these posts:

• Famous Sports in Japan
• Famous Sports in South Korea
• Famous Sports in Singapore

Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.

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