BEIJING, May 20 -- China's inaugural National Fitness Competition officially kicked off on Monday in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Chinese State Councilor Shen Yiqin declared the event open, with some 8,000 delegates and performers attending the opening ceremony.

As a brand-new comprehensive mass sports event, the competition's opening ceremony aimed to represent various groups around the country and showcase both mass sports from different regions and Chinese traditional sports culture.

Performers from 20 sports associations, six universities, and 13 primary and secondary schools lit up the atmosphere by presenting 33 sports events.

The competition will cover all regions of China, with events taking place not only in the Northeast division, which hosted the opening ceremony, but also in six other divisions: North, East, Central, South, Southwest and Northwest China.

During the competition, popular sports such as football, basketball and Tai Chi will be featured, while each division can also set up its own unique events based on local culture.

According to organizers, this event will be held biennially in the future, aiming to meet the public's demand for participating in various sports activities and to encourage 100 million people to engage in national fitness.