BEIJING, May 27, 2010 - The 4th All-China Games, a pageant for China's non-Olympic sports events has just concluded a ten-day sporting carnival in the city of Hefei, in the Anhui Province of South Central China.

The All-China Games was started by the General Administration of Sport of China in 2000 with the aim of promoting the non-Olympic sports. Together with the National Games and National City Games, the All-China Games is regarded as the three largest sports events in the country. The first three All-China Games were held in 2000, 2002, 2006 respectively.

Getting more of China's 1.3 billion people involved in sport was one of the legacy aims of the Beijing Olympics, where China topped the medals table with 51 golds. The 4th All-China Games is held in this background and the spirit of sport for all. The Games encourage people to do more physical exercises and the whole event is dubbed a "national fitness program".

The 4th Games marked a major expansion in terms of the number of participants, up from 4,000 to 30,000. It included 34 sports, 17 more than the inaugural Games in 2000, and a new awarding system was adopted, which saw 60 percent of the participants receive some sort of award.

More of the entertaining and fashionable sports showed up in the games, such as rock climbing, roller skating, and water-skiing.

Compared to the first three All-China Games, the biggest highlight of the fourth was to make sports closer to people. Apart from a variety of competitions, the 4th All-China Games underlined the public's participation by offering many activities including sports show, exhibition, forum and free tours.

The Asian Sport for All Association highly praised the Hefei Games for also involving ordinary people. ASFAA Vice President Sajit Singh and Secretary General Herzel Hagay were impressed by the public's enthusiasm to participate in the Games, which organizers are also trying to turn into a sports carnival.

"From what we saw, there's a lot of encouragement. Young kids could participate, helped by their mothers. I was fascinated," said Singh, who was in Hefei attending the ASFAA executive committee and was invited to watch some matches.

"You have full participation from all walks of life. You have top sports like golf all way down to the level where everyone could take part in," added Singh.

Herzel Hagay echoed his colleague by saying that China takes the lead in "sport for all" all over the world.

"What attracts me here is that kids and ordinary people all together participate in many sports activities," he said.

China is the only country which holds the sport-for-all Games, sponsored both by the government and private sector, every four years.

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