Insights from China: Dennis' Recent Visit

The first part of January was dedicated to my visit to China to assess the opportunities to inform a much more detailed market visit open to Members in December. Below is a very brief summary of some of the key meetings and your questions are welcome should anything in particular be of interest.

Our first day took us to the Linping District of Hangzhou, where we met with the Sports Bureau and venue operations team at the Linping District Sports Centre. This is an array of Asian Games venues seeking to attract more sports events. This will form part of the proposed visit in December.

The next day we visited the Anji district's Fairyland development, checking out the Ancient Hiking Trail, Climbing area, and Paragliding Club to assess event hosting potential and opportunities for our supplier network. The area has strong natural resources for outdoor sports and they are planning to spend circa £30m on development of these sites.

We continued our trip by meeting with two tech companies. Sound King showcased their end-to-end AV solutions and discussed their Olympic Council of Asia partnership. They are keen to extend their collaboration with international companies and help work with other suppliers in Asia

Uniview, the world's fourth-largest security camera and systems provider but their main interest now is developing AI-powered sports technology for match recording, tactical analysis, and crowd management, particularly targeting the European market.

The following day I met with IOC Executive Board Member and China Olympic Committee Vice President Linwei Li. This influential lady is held in high regard throughout China and within the IOC. Our approach to support in China was appreciated.

There was a very informative meeting with  the Zhejiang Sport Industry Association to discuss future collaborations, including summits, regional events, international visits and how to link their 300 members to the MEI network and this idea will be developed to help increase reach in Asia.

It was wonderful to catch up with a lady we have been dealing with for several years but never met before. She is the Sports content lead for CCTVSE the largest and most powerful media company in China. They are seeking to help attract sports events to China which would help connect us to Cities and local event organisers.

The visit to Beijing Sport University, Capital University of Physical Education and Sport, and the Beijing Institute for International Olympic Studies was to view their facilities provided as a national training centre. They are keen to host our visiting delegation on the next visit to explore areas of collaboration.

There is a hugely innovative concept of providing grass routes upwards sports facilties mainly aimed a recreation but within a closed park concept. Over 100 sites now exisit with many more in planning. An MOU was signed to establish support solutions could be provided by Members.

The final part of the visit was to Hong Kong to meet with the Asia World Expo venue to see what sports events can be hosted there and the status of their upgrade plans. This is also where the ANOC General Assembly will be taking place in December where members will be invited to join us.

The visit also include Kai Tech Cluster of venues. This is $3 billion project with incredible facilities. The aim is to establish what support we can offer and will be part of the visit programme in December.

Summary of the visit was to ensure that 2026 started with a clear view of opportunities in China after a few years of uncertainty. There is certainly an appetite to work more internationally and collaborate within Asia. A huge amount to follow up on and planning for the hosted visit in December