SPEEDSTERS: The riders in a women's points race during the finals of China's 11th National Games in Jinan, Shandong Province, on October 20, 2009 (JIANG XIAOYING)

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge watched China's 11th National Games at Jinan's stadium in Shandong Province on October 16, 2009. His high-profile attendance has set the sports world aflutter over the unmistakable sign of China's growing importance on the international athletic stage.

China brought home 32 gold medals from the 2004 Olympics, behind only the United States. China rose to the No.1 position during the 2008 Olympics, winning 51 gold medals and adding fuel to the country's desire to become a global sports power.

BREAKING THE RECORD: Twenty-year-old Zheng Fengrong jumps over a 1.77-meter bar at the Beijing Track and Field Sports Meet to become China's first female athlete to set a world record in November 1957 (XINHUA)

 

Yuan Weimin, former head of the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC), recently published a book reviewing China's gains and pains in athletics and expounded on three standards on which to measure a sports power—sporting achievements, population and industry.