BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Here is Xinhua News Agency's selection of the 10 most significant pieces of Chinese sports news in 2025, in chronological order:

-- On February 7, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the 9th Asian Winter Games (AWG) open in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Another major international winter sports event held in China after the 2022 Winter Olympics, the eight-day AWG attracted more than 1,200 athletes from 34 countries and regions, showcasing China's continuous progress in winter sports.

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  This file photo taken on Feb. 7, 2025 shows the cauldron is lit during the opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

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  This file photo taken on Dec. 3, 2025 shows a child practicing skiing at a ski resort during a five-day "snow break" for primary and secondary school students in Jilin, northeast China's Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Yan Linyun)

• -- 2025 marked a year of rapid progress in China's fusion of embodied intelligence and sports, highlighted by a series of pioneering robot competitions. In April, humanoid robots and human runners took to the same half-marathon course in Beijing. This was followed by China's first-ever multi-sport games for embodied intelligent robots in the eastern city of Wuxi, and the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing in August that featured 280 teams from 16 countries and regions.

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  This file photo taken on Aug. 15, 2025 shows humanoid robots combating during a kickboxing match at the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

• -- The Su Super League, a grassroots football competition in east China's Jiangsu Province, captivated the nation, fueling a broader sports consumption boom. Its 85 matches attracted 2.43 million total spectators - an average of 28,600 per game - and its livestream drew two billion views. Along with premier events like the China Open and the WTT China Smash, it spurred significant growth across culture, tourism, and retail.

To harness this momentum, China issued guidelines in September to unlock the sports economy's full potential. The plan targets a domestic sports industry worth over seven trillion yuan (about 997.9 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030 by nurturing world-class sports companies and events.

-- At the World Aquatics Championships held in Singapore from July 11 to August 3, China claimed 15 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze medals in artistic swimming, diving and swimming, retaining its top positions in both the gold medal table and overall medal standings.

-- From August 7 to 17, the 12th World Games were held in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, featuring nearly 4,000 athletes from more than 110 countries and regions. China won 36 gold, 17 silver and 11 bronze medals, topping both the gold medal table and overall standings for the first time.

-- At the 2025 BWF World Championships in Paris in August, China reached the finals in all five events for the first time in 14 years, finishing with two gold and three silver medals. Shi Yuqi ended the country's decade-long title drought in the men's singles at the badminton worlds, while Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning claimed their first women's doubles world title. In May, China defeated South Korea 3-1 to claim its fourth consecutive Sudirman Cup, and 14th overall, in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen.

-- In late October, the Chinese Athletics Association issued guidelines to further regulate marathon events nationwide. The guidelines require that mass participants account for no less than 90 percent of total entries and call on organizers to better assess participants' demand, funding capacity and urban infrastructure when planning the event's scale.

-- On November 5, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a resolution at its 43rd session of the General Conference designating March 21, the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, as International Taijiquan Day.

Originating in China, Taijiquan is now practiced by hundreds of millions of people across more than 180 countries and regions, and was listed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020.

-- China's 15th National Games were held in November across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and declared the Games open. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry and IOC honorary president Thomas Bach were also present. This edition marked the first time that the Games were held across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Featuring 34 sports and 23 mass sports activities, the National Games drew more than 14,000 elite athletes and around 11,000 amateurs. From December 8 to 15, China's 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games were also staged in the GBA.

-- China intensified its efforts in 2025 to curb "toxic fandom" in sports, with multiple government departments targeting online abuse and investigating cases of cyberbullying athletes. These measures help promote a more rational and healthy sporting environment. ■