Para snowboarding athletes Liu Yiyang (left) and Wu Zhongwei of China national training team train during a training session for the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games at a training base in Chongli District of Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei Province, March 20, 2021. Photo: Xinhua

The General Administration of Sport of China (GASC) and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China signed a five-year agreement on Monday committing to cooperate on the development of sporting activities and the promotion of sports-related industries and events.

The GASC said in a statement posted on its website that three Olympic Games are to be held in China and European countries in the coming years, offering important opportunities for cooperation.

Li Yingchuan, Vice Minister of China's General Administration of Sport, said it is expected that European companies will make more contributions to the common development of sports between both sides.

China's State Council issued a national exercise plan from 2021 to 2025, to ensure the  fitness and exercise demands of the population. The plan vows to increase the number of people who regularly exercise by 38.5 percent and expand the scale of the nationwide sports industry to 5 trillion yuan ($773.69 billion) by 2025.

China's sports industry was worth approximately 2.95 trillion yuan ($465 billion) in 2019, a 10.9 percent year-on-year increase.