Senior hobbyists of Taijiquan, a traditional Chinese martial art, demonstrate Taijiquan moves by Fuchunjiang River in Tonglu County, east China's Zhejiang Province, on May 19, 2021. [Xinhua/Xu Yu]

Chinese lawmakers reviewed a draft revision to the the country's Law on Physical Culture and Sports to provide a strong legislative guarantee for promoting the high-quality development of sports in China.

BEIJING -- China's lawmakers reviewed on Tuesday a draft revision to the country's Law on Physical Culture and Sports.

The draft revision, which aims to strengthen national fitness programs and better protect athletes' rights, was presented for review at the 31st session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

The draft revision includes 11 chapters and 109 articles, seeing an increase of 55 articles from that of the version in 1995 when it was first enacted. Detailed regulations and principles were added to the revision including anti-doping, sports arbitration and protection of rights and interests for athletes and sports organizations.

"This revision to the Law is a relatively comprehensive and thorough one," said Tian Siyuan, executive vice president of China Society of Studies on Sports Laws.

Aerial photo taken on May 12, 2020 shows students playing football during PE class at Lulinpu Middle School in Anxiang county, central China's Hunan Province. [Photo by Chen Sihan/Xinhua]

In general, this revision aims to deepen reforms in sports, better protect people's sporting rights and interests, and provide a strong legislative guarantee for promoting the high-quality development of sports.

The revision adds a chapter on sport arbitration that provides regulations on sport arbitration with a legislative grounding, and establishes a legal system that suits the country's national conditions.

Moreover, the draft elaborates on the legal responsibilities of relevant parties, making the law more mandatory and enforceable.

The law hasn't been amended for more than 20 years apart from a few refined provisions in 2009 and 2016.

"The law can hardly meet the rapid economic and social development seen over the past two decades. The practice of sports reforms requires an up-to-date revision of the law," said He Yiting, Chairperson of the NPC's Social Development Affairs Committee.

"The rights and obligations of various sports entities need to be further clarified, conflicts between sports law and other laws need to be solved," noted He. "In addition, the preparation issues for international events such as Beijing 2022 Winter Games are in need of legal support, and legal supervision is required to monitor the increasing number of commercial sporting events."

Students learn to play basketball at a primary school in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Sept. 3, 2021. [Photo by Wu Zhizun/Xinhua]

A new chapter on anti-doping is added to the Law, reflecting China's resolve to fight doping in sport. This chapter mainly refines the Anti-doping Management Regulation of China, and takes these strict regulations with law enforcement, so as to further promote anti-doping efforts.

Contents such as prohibition on doping and supply of banned drugs to athletes, the establishment of an anti-doping mechanism, and international anti-doping cooperation responsibilities were included in the chapter.

In addition, the draft also highlights the balanced and adequate development of sports, adding provisions about "supporting the development of sports undertakings in areas with large ethnic minority populations, border areas and economically underdeveloped areas".

Lawmakers are expected to deliberate the draft amendment in group discussions during the session of the NPC Standing Committee, which runs from Tuesday to Saturday.