Hong Kong to co-host 2025 National Games of China with Macau and Guangdong
- The 2025 games will be the first time that the two former colonies have hosted a major national sporting event
- The announcement follows Hong Kong’s record medal haul at the Tokyo Olympics
The 2025 games will be the first time the two former colonies host a major national sporting event.
The announcement on the State Council’s website said the Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong governments would shoulder most of the cost, although the central government will provide a certain amount of sponsorship.
“[The governments] … should make use of existing sports facilities and exercise strict budget controls and reduce the cost of hosting the games,” the statement said.
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The games are held every four years, usually the year after the Olympics, and are seen as a platform to identify new sporting talent.
Guangdong has previously hosted the games, as have Beijing and Shanghai, while more recent editions have been held in Jiangsu, Shandong, Liaoning and Tianjin.
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor welcomed the announcement, saying the Kai Tak Sports Park, which will be completed in 2023, and the city’s Velodrome would be among the facilities to host events.
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Tian Feilong, an associate professor at Beihang University’s Law School in Beijing, said sport could be a platform to foster integration between Hong Kong and the mainland.
“Sports are well received by the public and do not have a strong political connotations. It is easier to use sports to cultivate a sense of identification with the country,” he said.
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Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: “Sport is a good arena for shared emotions. As part of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong can fully integrate hearts and minds through sports.”
Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, the vice-president of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, said the games would help promote closer communications between sports bodies in the three hosts and help integrate transport systems and customs arrangements.
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Hong Kong Sports Institute chairman Lam Tai-fai said the three hosts would need to discuss how to divide the events between them, but Hong Kong would want to host sports such as badminton, cycling and fencing which are popular with the Hong Kong public.
