China plans to provide more public exercise facilities and further promote awareness of sport, a senior official said on July 19.

Rapid urbanization and growing public enthusiasm for athletic events mean public sport facilities can no longer meet demand, said Lang Wei, director of the “sports for all” department at the General Administration of Sport.

The sports area per capita in China increased from 1.46 square meters in 2014 to 1.66 sq m last year, the administration said. But that still lags behind developed countries, with the figure in the United States at 16 sq m, and that in Japan 19 sq m.

Lang said public access to sport stadiums and playgrounds at educational institutions will be expanded, and more facilities for popular sports including soccer, badminton and baseball will be built.

“We have been pushing colleges and high schools to open up their sports facilities to the public in recent years, but property disputes and security concerns have slowed down progress in some regions,” he said, adding that interdepartmental cooperation is needed to address such issues.

According to a guideline unveiled by the State Council last week, China aims to increase its sports area per capita to 1.9 sq m by 2022 and 2.3 sq m by 2030. The proportion of citizens regularly participating in sports activities is expected to reach 37 percent in 2022 and 40 percent in 2030.

Lang said the administration had invested 15 billion yuan ($2.18 billion) in recent years to address a lack of countryside and neighborhood sport facilities.

In rural areas, 570,000 villages now have at least one basketball court and two table tennis tables. The fewer than 60,000 villages without such facilities will receive them in the future.

Qiu Ru, an official with the sports for all department, said the administration is working with 14 other government bodies, including the Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Development and Reform Commission, to solve regulatory problems with the allocation of land in new residential areas.

“We are also looking into ways to make better use of idle space surrounding older neighborhoods to allow residents to access sports facilities within a 15 minutes’ walk,” she said.

The State Council guideline highlighted the importance of physical activity, with a lack of exercise, coupled with unhealthy diets, tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption, blamed for increasing rates of chronic illness.

Ahead of National Fitness Day on Aug 8, the administration will launch campaigns to promote a standard calisthenics program－a light daily fitness regime mostly practiced by primary and high school students－across the country.

Qiu said the campaigns will be aimed at inspiring citizens to change their sedentary lifestyles and make working out a daily habit.