Participants compete during the 2025 Chongqing Marathon in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, March 2, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Eager to break free from the confines of winter, Chinese people are embracing outdoor activities as spring offers seemingly endless opportunities to keep fit and revel in the beauty of nature.

As temperatures edge up, marathons, cycling, fishing and camping have transformed parks and commercial districts into vibrant hubs of activity, igniting a blooming "spring economy."

Enthusiasm for sports 

After finishing a day's work, Wang Wan, a resident of Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, was not in a hurry to head home. Instead, she met up with friends at a sports stadium for a game of Frisbee.

"With the weather warming up, my friends can't wait to exercise. Some have bought sports gear in readiness for outdoor activities, and one friend even signed up for fitness classes to get in shape," said Wang. "I am usually busy with work, but I will not miss a single Frisbee training day."

In the coastal city of Yantai in Shandong Province, over 4,000 sports events are planned for 2025, including a beach volleyball tour, a cycling league, and numerous other events at scenic spots, on the streets, and in commercial districts, to cater to people's rising passion for outdoor exercise and to stimulate the sports-related economy.

Policy support is also in the pipeline. More sports venues and facilities will be built close to people's homes, and extensive fitness activities will be promoted, according to this year's government work report.

The report emphasizes that young people can build willpower and maintain physical and mental health through participation in sports.

China's National Health Commission also said earlier this month that it would intensify its "weight management" campaign, proactively supporting healthy lifestyles through further institutional measures.

Unleashing consumption vigor 

The surge in outdoor sports enthusiasm has spurred sales of related products. Companies in the outdoor industry are meeting new consumer demands and injecting fresh growth momentum into the economy.

Sales of sun-protective visor hats have surged by 200 percent since the beginning of March this year, while yoga pants paired with suits have become a new trend among office workers, data from a sports store in Jining, Shandong Province, revealed. Muscle massage guns and protein bars have also become popular purchases.

Sichuan Haotelai Outdoor Products, a company based in southwest China's Sichuan Province, has recently witnessed a spike in orders, driven by rising interest in spring camping and outdoor leisure activities.

To attract more customers via competitive prices, the company has transitioned from a traditional business-to-consumer model to a manufacturer-to-consumer approach through livestreaming. This strategy allows consumers to see product features and performance in real time, enhancing the shopping experience while driving sales growth.

"Currently, a single e-commerce livestreaming room receives nearly a thousand orders daily," said Yang Tianqing, sales manager of the company, adding that their number of livestreaming rooms has now risen to four. Notably, the company has increased jobs across all production processes -- creating 150 jobs.

In the city of Laizhou in Shandong Province, major supermarkets and sports stores will distribute consumption vouchers during the coming sports-themed shopping festival, allowing residents to purchase sports equipment at discounted prices.

Nationwide, the market size for China's outdoor sports equipment is expected to approach nearly 600 billion yuan (83.65 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, according to the Outdoor Sports Industry Development Plan (2022-2025) released by the General Administration of Sport of China and several other departments.

This year's government work report also highlighted efforts to unlock consumption potential in culture, tourism, sports and other sectors. The country will create a full range of new consumption scenarios to accelerate the growth of digital, green, smart and other new types of consumption, the report said.

Integrating seasonal features with consumer demand, spring-themed products and services in cultural tourism, dining and outdoor sports activities will enrich customer experience and boost economic growth, said Hong Yong, an associate researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.