The 14th National Games kicked off in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on Wednesday, with athletes seeking to carry forward the country's proud sporting tradition. The National Games, which is the highest sports competition in the country, is also an important occasion to promote the development of sports in China.

The event in Xi'an is another opportunity to make people understand the importance of physical fitness. While the sporting spirit to be exhibited by the participants at the Games will help China's sports organizations to make greater contributions to China's sports power.

But encouraging people to get enough exercise and stay physically fit is also a fundamental part of the Healthy China project the central government has rolled out. Making mass sport events a part of the National Games with larger participation will encourage more people to play sports in order to lead a healthy lifestyle.

To ease the pressure on the country's health system created by the country's rapidly aging population, and the increase in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and obesity, which account for more than 70 percent of the medical expense burden, people should be encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle.

Physical fitness is conducive to improving people's well-being and leading a healthy life.

China is making great strides in promoting mass sports, competitive sports and the sports industry. It has introduced the aforementioned national fitness-for-all plan, and improved public sports services so that sports can play a key role in improving people's health and promoting people's all-round development.

It is hoped that the athletes competing at the Xi'an National Games, apart from winning medals, will also promote physical fitness and inspire more and more people to play sports, and write a new chapter in the high-quality development of sports in the new era. We are sure that the 14th National Games will be a complete success.