| First event | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Occur every | 4 years |
| Purpose | Multi-sport event for the under-21 athletes in thePeople's Republic of China |
TheChina National Youth Games (simplified Chinese:中华人民共和国青年运动会;traditional Chinese:中華人民共和國青年運動會;pinyin:Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Qīngnián Yùndònghuì) is a quadrennialmulti-sport event for Chinese athletes under the age of twenty-one.[1] It was first held in 1988 as theChina City Games.[2] The competition switched to be held the year before theSummer Olympics in the second edition in 1991. It has been held every four years since then and was given its current name from 2015 onwards, matching the nomenclature for the newly launchedYouth Olympic Games.[3][4]
The purpose of the games was to improve the performance of China's best young athletes and promote widespread involvement in sport. Teams are organised on a city or district basis – in line with the designation ofChinese cities, athletes may come from the metropolitan area or its surrounding area. There are also teams sent by national organisations, such as thePeople's Liberation Army Navy.[5]
Following on from revelations ofdoping in China, the competition incorporated its first blood tests in the 1999 edition.[5] This trend continued, with over 1200 out-of-competition drug tests happening as part of the 2007 City Games. One cyclist and onewushu competitor were disqualified as a result. Anti-doping educational events were also held for both athletes and coaches.[6]
Theathletics competition has provided high level performances including a women's5000 metresworld junior record byJiang Bo in 1995, and another in the women'sjavelin throw byXue Juan in 2003.[7] It has also featured future champions in the sport, including Olympic hurdles championLiu Xiang and world marathon championBai Xue.[8]
| China National Youth Games | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Games | Hosts | Dates | Teams | Athletes | Sports | Events |
| 1988 | 1 | Jinan,Shandong | 23 October–2 November | 42 | 2,695 | 12 | |
| 1991 | 2 | Tangshan,Hebei | September | 96 | ~3,000 | 16 | |
| 1995 | 3 | Nanjing,Jiangsu | October | 50 | 3,344 | 16 | |
| 1999 | 4 | Xi'an,Shaanxi | 11–20 September | 57 | ~4,000 | 16 | |
| 2003 | 5 | Changsha,Hunan | 18–27 October | 57 | 6,648 | 29 | 289 |
| 2007 | 6 | Wuhan,Hubei | October[9] | 57 | ~3,000 | 189 | |
| 2011 | 7 | Nanchang,Jiangxi | 16–25 October | 57 | 6,034 | 25 | |
| 2015[10] | 8 | Fuzhou,Fujian | 18–27 October | 82 | 7,959 | 26 | 306 |
| 2019 | 9 | Taiyuan,Shanxi[11] | 8–18 August | ||||