After a mad dash, China's outdoor industry is seeking a "new rhythm".
Author: Wang Li
Editor: Wang Xiaokun
In Dali, Yunnan at the end of October, Cangshan Mountain remains as green as ever, and Erhai Lake sparkles like a washed sapphire. This city known for its "leisurely" atmosphere is now being stirred by a longing for "development."
From October 24th to 28th, the 3rd China Outdoor Sports Industry Conference was held here. Inside the Dali International Hotel, numerous government officials, scholars, experts, corporate brands, and industry practitioners took turns on stage, collectively showcasing the changes in China's outdoor sports industry over the past year. During this period, Yang Xuedong, the director of the Economic Department of the General Administration of Sport of China, released the "Report on the Development of China's Outdoor Sports Industry (2024 - 2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), which provided solid evidence for these changes.
The Report shows that as of June 2025, there were 335,000 enterprises related to outdoor sports nationwide, and more than 24,000 new enterprises were registered in the first half of this year alone. Driven by the policy system, outdoor sports are evolving from a "niche emerging segment" of the sports industry into a powerful economic engine - covering multi - billion - level sectors such as ice and snow, water sports, and mountain sports, and connecting hundreds of millions of consumers.
Source: Report on the Development of China's Outdoor Sports Industry (2024 - 2025)
However, the atmosphere in the conference hall was not just filled with cheers for "growth" and "explosion." The discussions among the guests about "ecosystem," "rules," and "reality" were equally intense.
The transformation of the status of outdoor sports stems from a major change a decade ago.
Since the issuance of the "Document No. 46" in 2014, "streamlining administration, delegating powers, expanding opening - up, and attracting social capital participation" has become the main theme, and China's sports industry has begun to accelerate its marketization. In 2025, the "Document No. 31" was released. Building on the ideas of the "Document No. 46," the official narrative shifted its focus to "promoting the high - quality development of the sports industry and accelerating the construction of a modern sports industry system," and emphasized "playing an important role in building a new development pattern."
This means that sports are no longer just a consumer segment to be "expanded" but are also incorporated into the overall layout of the country's "modern industrial system." Just like in a football game, when a relaxed and entertainment - oriented "friendly match" is upgraded to a complex and must - win "knock - out match," the original tactical system needs to be adjusted systematically.
As the determination of policies and the patience of the market compete with each other, and as the pace of infrastructure construction and professional capabilities is misaligned, China's outdoor sports industry has entered a "mid - game battle," and the focus has shifted from "creating trends" to "creating an ecosystem."
One Industry, Three Missions
Judging from the agenda setting and the participating lineup, defining the outdoor sports industry as a "national project" is not an exaggeration.
At this conference, officials from multiple ministries and commissions, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, stood side by side with the sports system. This in itself announced that outdoor sports have far exceeded the scope of a single industry. It shoulders multiple missions and addresses three contemporary propositions: economy, ecology, and culture.
Firstly, outdoor sports are a new tool for stimulating domestic demand and driving employment. Against the backdrop of the sluggish growth of traditional consumption, this industry, with its strong correlation effect and spill - over ability, is growing into a new "growth pole" of the economy.
At the Outdoor Finance Forum, Huang Quanxiang, the deputy director of the Credit Market Department of the People's Bank of China, pointed out that the outdoor sports industry is an "important means to boost and expand consumption and cultivate new drivers of economic growth." To this end, the central bank, together with the General Administration of Sport and other departments, has issued the "Guiding Opinions on Financial Support for the High - Quality Development of the Sports Industry" and established a special re - loan of 500 billion yuan in May this year, listing sports as a key support area.
Source: The 3rd China Outdoor Sports Industry Conference
Behind the policy actions is the official re - evaluation of the economic value of outdoor activities. It has long gone beyond the scope of equipment sales and has become a consumption amplifier that can leverage "food, clothing, housing, transportation, travel, shopping, and entertainment."
The data shared by Cai Bin, the director of the Sports Bureau of Wulong District, Chongqing, is very convincing: Relying on the local geological features, outdoor sports have upgraded "natural assets" to "cash - flow assets," pushing the number of sports tourism visitors to the tens of millions level. Wu Yixiao, the deputy director of the Sports Bureau of Wuxi City, also mentioned that a "Wuxi Marathon" can drive economic benefits of more than 500 million yuan.
In this regard, Xin Ying, a partner at Kaixing Capital, gave a more fundamental explanation. The resilience of the outdoor economy in the downward cycle stems from meeting both the "emotional value" and "affordable alternative" needs. "Outdoor activities are a healthy 'addictive product'." The "Report" confirms this: During the 2024 - 2025 ice and snow season, the passenger flow of ski resorts nationwide increased by 13.5% year - on - year, and the consumption scale of road running events increased by 26% compared with the previous year.
Therefore, from an economic perspective, the primary task of outdoor sports is to provide a more resilient solution for domestic demand in an uncertain era with its dual spiritual and material attributes.
Secondly, outdoor sports are a testing ground for implementing the "Two Mountains" theory.
In 2025, on the 20th anniversary of the proposal of the "Two Mountains" theory, how to transform ecological advantages into economic advantages has changed from a philosophical speculation question to a real - world test question for resource - based regions. The outdoor sports industry, which naturally depends on a good ecological environment, is regarded as the key to solving this problem.
At the relevant forum, Yan Guoqiang, the deputy director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said that outdoor sports are an "important path to transform lucid waters and lush mountains into invaluable assets." In the past three years, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration has planned and built 12 national forest trails with a total length of 22,000 kilometers and is working with the General Administration of Sport to create high - quality outdoor sports destinations.
This indicates that the government is using outdoor sports to shift the utilization of natural resources from "passive protection" to an active mode of "development in protection."
Zhou Lijun, a professor at Zhejiang University, explained the transformation logic of the "Two Mountains" theory. She believes that outdoor sports destinations can directly transform lucid waters and lush mountains, which are "irreplaceable core assets," into experiential and consumable outdoor venues and achieve the unity of ecological and economic benefits through a "low - intervention, integrated" development model.
Multiple local cases confirm this concept. Zhejiang, following the principle of "finding instead of building and minimal intervention," has built more than 10,000 kilometers of "Circular Zhejiang Trails," connecting ancient roads, greenways, and mountain paths, and activating the consumption of homestays and farmhouses along the route through outdoor events. Aba Prefecture in Sichuan, with its "full - gradient" natural resources ranging from 800 to 6,250 meters, has created a complete product chain from valley leisure to extreme climbing. Zhao Shouchun, the director of the Bureau of Culture and Tourism, said that this is an exploration of "maximizing the value of resources."
Source: The 3rd China Outdoor Sports Industry Conference
The direction of these practices is clear: Using outdoor sports as a carrier to turn ecological protection from a "burden" into a "high - quality asset" provides a replicable and promotable industrial path for the implementation of the "Two Mountains" theory, which is of greater significance especially for regions rich in resources but weak in the economy.
After the goals of economy and ecology are established, a new question arises: How to establish a cultural core and discourse system for Chinese outdoor sports in the field of outdoor sports strongly influenced by Western culture.
The forum on "The Trendy Chinese Style and Globalization Path of Outdoor Sports" itself responds to this question. Officials and experts from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly discussed how to "guide industry enterprises to develop a batch of outdoor sports equipment with Chinese elements based on China's cultural and tourism characteristics" and "tell Chinese stories in a fashionable language and spread Chinese voices with cultural symbols."
This shows that the decision - makers hope that the outdoor industry will output not only products but also culture and aesthetics.
Jiang Yiyi, a professor at Beijing Sport University, pointed out that the current global outdoor market is moving from a "single - dominated by Europe and the United States" pattern to a "diversified" one. The competitive factors have shifted from "brand" to "function," and the consumption scenarios have also broken the boundary between the outdoors and the city, which brings new opportunities for Chinese brands. She believes that the key to the integration of the trendy Chinese style and outdoor sports lies in "cultural identity," and for outdoor culture to go global, it is necessary to extract "globally common" values.
Source: Jiang Yiyi, a professor at Beijing Sport University
Brands are also echoing this trend. Zhao Le, the vice - president of the Boshihe Group, mentioned that they collaborated with the Palace Museum, integrating the colors and textures of traditional artifacts into the design of windbreakers. Inspired by the Danxia and Karst landforms, they participated in London Fashion Week, trying to make the "Chinese outdoor aesthetics" visible to the world.
When interviewed by official media after the conference, Li Songtao, the co - founder of Kendal China, said that outdoor culture is the soul and spiritual core of the industry, determining its depth and vitality. Currently, Chinese outdoor culture is still influenced by the "heroism" of Europe and the United States, which is different from the Chinese cultural pursuit of "harmony between man and nature." Whether it is senior executives, scholars, or practitioners, the industry generally advocates that China needs to establish its own outdoor spiritual system.
When outdoor sports rise from simple sports consumption to carrying three missions of economy, ecology, and culture, its complexity, resource requirements, and allocation difficulty are also soaring simultaneously. The top - level design has brought great opportunities to the industry, but it also faces a series of structural pressures at the implementation level.
The Stunted "Middle - Tier"
With the strong support of administrative forces, the outdoor sports industry has been incorporated into the "national strategy." However, when the speed of the "top - down" and "bottom - up" approaches does not match, the development of the industry is likely to be out of rhythm. At the 3rd China Outdoor Sports Industry Conference, people talked about both the boom and the hidden concerns.
At the conference, the data presented by various regions was inspiring. Taking Deyang, Sichuan as an example, the "Sanxingdui Exploration Outdoor Sports" attracted more than 830,000 visitors during the National Day holiday this year, driving economic benefits of 829 million yuan. Looking across the country, the collective appearance of the first batch of 49 "High - Quality Outdoor Sports Destinations" is a prominent report card for the development of the outdoor sports industry in recent years.
From the ice and snow in the north, the islands in the south, to the mountains in the inland... Outdoor destinations have evolved from scattered "point - like breakthroughs" to a network - like "collective action."
Source: The 3rd China Outdoor Sports Industry Conference
Although the "quantifiable achievements" in terms of the number of projects and the number of tourists are eye - catching, on the other hand, consumers generally have doubts about the depth of experience.
Many industry insiders told 36Kr that homogenized "internet - famous check - in points," shallow "landscape consumption" routes, and camps lacking community and educational attributes are becoming the other side of China's outdoor sports industry. Xin Ying reminded that "the core of this industry's model should be to pursue're - purchase and additional purchase,' not just the acquisition of front - end traffic."
The mechanism behind this phenomenon is not complicated: On the one hand, policies and local governments pursue visible performance, and quantitative indicators are the most direct assessment basis. On the other hand, as Zhang Zhijian, the vice - president of the Chinese Mountaineering Association, pointed out, the pressure of public opinion and safety makes managers more willing to create "controllable scenarios" in exchange for certainty.
In the view of Liang Qiang, a professor at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, although outdoor sports are shifting from "a niche and arduous activity" to "a mass healing activity" with more diverse ways of playing, and even the emergence of "lying - flat rafting," true healing is not just about safe trails or beautiful scenery. "The core of outdoor life aesthetics is the tranquility obtained after mastering nature and coexisting with risks - that is a kind of ability, not just a beautiful photo."
If society is obsessed with "zero risk," then outdoor sports will be difficult to carry the original intention of "living in nature and growing in risks."
Source: The 3rd China Outdoor Sports Industry Conference
The "Report"