Photo taken on Nov. 9, 2024 shows a general view of the ceremony to mark the one-year countdown to China's 15th National Games, which will be held in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in 2025, in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)

The upcoming National Games has become one of the topics that national legislators and political advisors are often talking about during the ongoing two sessions, as they emphasize its role in deepening regional integration and boosting economic vitality of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Jointly organized by South China's Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, the National Games, the highest-level domestic multi-sport event held since 1953, will have its 15th edition held in November. 

Ma Fung-kwok, head of the Hong Kong delegation to the National People's Congress (NPC), highlighted the transformative potential of the tournament.

"The hosting of the National Games can not only promote the development of the sports cause, but also deepen people-to-people exchanges and economic cooperation within the GBA," Ma told reporters on Wednesday. "The competition is not just about the athletes. It also involves the exchanges among coaches, referees and sports administrators. Such all-round interaction will provide a rare learning opportunity for all parties involved."  

He also highlighted the role of the newly completed Kai Tak Sports Park as a world-class venue that will serve as the main arena for National Games competitions to be held in Hong Kong.

"The newly completed Kai Tak Sports Park will not only provide world-class facilities for the Games but also allow Hong Kong people to engage firsthand with a national sporting spectacle," Ma said. 

NPC deputy Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, a Hong Kong legislator in Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication, said the National Games presents a crucial opportunity for the integration of the GBA and the building of a sports bay area.

"Through jointly building a sports bay area, the power of sports can be harnessed to break through deep-seated institutional and mechanism obstacles as well as structural contradictions, enhance the integrity, synergy and endogenous driving force of the development of the GBA," Fok said in his NPC proposal obtained by the Global Times.

Fok said the three legal jurisdictions' reality of the Greater Bay Area is a unique challenge, but also an "opportunity." He proposed leveraging the Games to streamline cross-border logistics, such as easing entry and exit policies for athletes and spectators, harmonizing event standards and creating a unified sports industry ecosystem that ultimately enables the area to host more international sports events. 

"By building an important platform for China to communicate with the world through sports and by hosting international sports events and activities, it can attract the inflow of global capital, technology and talents, further enhance the supporting and leading role of the GBA in the ­national economic development and inject new impetus for development into the region," he said in the proposal. 

National legislator Ng Chau-pei, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, echoed the idea, saying that the National Games in Hong Kong could also boost the development of the sports economy and the tourism economy.

CPPCC National Committee member Chu Ting-kin, chairman and CEO of the Mission Hills Group, emphasized the transformative potential of merging sports events with international cultural activities. 

Chu argued that by combining "sports events plus international cultural activities," the event's massive media and public attention could be transformed into a dynamic economic engine. 

He proposed that after the Games concludes, organizers should continue to harness the legacy effect by hosting additional high-level cross-border competitions. 

Liu Guoliang, president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association and a national political advisor, hailed the Games as a "grand celebration" for China's most beloved sport. 

"The enthusiasm for table tennis in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao is unmatched," Liu told reporters. "The table tennis events during the National Games will showcase the highest level of competition while inspiring the next generation."