The China International Mind Games Challenge is on the agenda of the Beijing Pinggu World Leisure Congress. (REN CHAO / XINHUA)
The Report on Beijing's Leisure Development 2020 was released at the recent Beijing Pinggu World Leisure Congress.
An important academic achievement in the field, this is the first comprehensive report on the development of the city's leisure industry, its current status, hot issues, problems and future trends.
The release of the report is significant for further meeting the leisure demands of Beijing residents by guiding investment capital to different fields of the sector, said Wu Liyun, an associate professor from the China Academy of Culture and Tourism at Beijing International Studies University.
Highlighting the growing demands for things such as nighttime, parent-child and online leisure activities, the report is expected to lead the development of the market.
The report also analyzed specific leisure areas, including 798 Art Zone and Beijing Wtown, a holiday resort at the foot of the Simatai section of the Great Wall, as well as the sports phenomenon of marathons, aiming to offer experience and enlightenment to leisure-featured areas and companies.
Wu, who was a member of the team that compiled the report, said it is intended to help increase the international influence of Beijing's leisure sector.
She said Beijing has a high demand for leisure activities, as the per capita disposable income of residents reached 69,434 yuan (US$10,660) in 2020, 2.15 times the national average.
The release of the report is significant for further meeting the leisure demands of Beijing residents by guiding investment capital to different fields of the sector, said Wu Liyun, an associate professor from the China Academy of Culture and Tourism at Beijing International Studies University
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The city's tertiary industry has contributed more to its economic development in recent years, creating a sound environment for Beijing's leisure industry and promoting several segments, such as tourism and sports, Wu said.
Beijing has sought to actively promote cultural, rural, public and nighttime leisure activities, and boost sports consumption in recent years, Wu said.
The city has set up public cultural service systems at various levels and boasts 7,131 public cultural facilities.
The scale of its leisure sector is huge, Wu said. The city's tourism revenue amounted to 622.4 billion yuan in 2019 and it has many internationally noted cultural leisure sites.
From the aspect of rural leisure, Beijing is home to 7,350 folk-custom bed-and-breakfast businesses and 948 agricultural sightseeing gardens.
Beijing also boasts leisure brands of leading significance, Wu said, citing 798 Art Zone as a leading cultural leisure brand, Beijing Wtown as a tourism leisure brand and Sanlitun bar block as an entertainment leisure brand.
She said with the upcoming opening of Universal Studios Beijing, and the Winter Olympics next year, the city will develop new internationally influential brands for recreation and sports leisure.
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Beijing saw 455 leisure companies registered in 2019. Of them, 197 were cultural leisure enterprises, according to the report.
Beijing is a large city in terms of cultural resources as it has 7,309 cultural relics and historic sites, Wu said, adding that the resources have laid a solid foundation for developing cultural leisure.
The city has also given priority to becoming a national cultural center in recent years and has formulated a medium-and long-term plan (2019-35) for that. It boasts both policies on and markets for leading cultural leisure business and gathering related companies, Wu said.
songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn