Tenniel Chu, a member of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), has suggested that Shenzhen should take more measures to boost the sports industry and to hold more sports events in order to improve its image as an international city.
Sports have become important symbols used to measure the degree of a city’s internationalization, and countless cities have achieved great success through “sports marketing,” Chu said in a proposal submitted to the annual session of the city’s political advisory body.
For example, the Barcelona Olympic Games brought the host city more than US$26 billion in economic benefits, which is the record for highest revenue from the Olympic Games. Some unique individual sports events can also greatly increase the influence for a city, such as soccer’s World Cup and other professional soccer events. In addition, some youth amateur events with special IPs also have the potential to greatly increase the international popularity of a city, Chu said.
Chu, from Hong Kong, is the vice chairman of Mission Hills Group, a pioneer in China’s rapidly developing sports and leisure industry.
Chu gained rich experiences and knowledge about China’s sports industry during his time working and hosting many large international golf events with Mission Hills, which was crowned as the Largest Golf Facility in the World by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006.
Chu has prepared three proposals for the First Session of the Seventh Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPPCC. Suggestions on Improving Shenzhen’s International Image by Developing Sports Industry is one of them.
His other two proposals focus on the exchange of young talents and the development of eco-tourism within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Chu said Shenzhen should introduce more high-end sports events and continue to enhance the influence of the existing professional clubs of basketball, soccer and other major sports.
For example, the city government could take measures to protect the economic interests of professional sports groups, use tax leverage to guide funds for investment in the construction of sports facilities, protect the copyright of professional sports, provide financial aid policies for amateur sports and encourage the development of sports intangible assets, he said.
The city could pay more attention to youth sports and develop sports tourism, considering that sports events are important platforms for attracting international tourists, he said in the proposal.
In the short term, due to COVID-19, the city could bid to host important domestic sports events other than international ones, Chu said.