Since the release of the State Council’s “Document No. 46” — “Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption” — at the national strategic level, the sports industry has had a top-down design model. That is, by setting goals, optimizing administration, opening resources, state investment, and industrial upgrading, the document provides growth momentum for the sports industry across five key directions.

Among the first batch of 96 national pilot towns for sports and leisure characteristic towns announced in August 2017, the Lingjiu Mountain National Forest Sports Town in Kecheng District was successfully included, becoming the only one in China themed around forest sports.

As one of the three national-level sports and leisure characteristic towns in Zhejiang Province, it has received high attention from the Zhejiang Provincial Sports Bureau, the Quzhou Municipal Government, and the Kecheng District Party Committee and Government. With an overall spatial layout centered around one park (Lingjiu Mountain Forest Park), one stream (Miaoyuan Stream), and one town (Jiuhua Township), a “3+2+2” framework system has been formed: “three core sports zones + two forest trekking trails + two wellness support areas.” The aim is to build “three destinations” (a destination for forest extreme sports, a destination for sports and leisure tourism, and a model site for Beautiful China · Sports Revitalizing Rural Areas) and “one zone” (a national 5A-level scenic area), pushing Kecheng to become a nationally renowned sports-themed town and encouraging more people to engage in distinctive sports activities.

This year, the first Forest Extreme Sports Games will be held in Kecheng, and related standards such as event criteria and sports standards will be released during the Second Promotion Meeting on the Construction of Sports and Leisure Towns in Zhejiang Province and the First Lingjiu Mountain National Forest Extreme Sports Forum, to be held on April 22–23.

One of the event organizers, Quzhou Kecheng Lüchuang Forest Sports Co., Ltd., stated that the new economy has become a new driving force leading transformation and upgrading, bringing new opportunities for leapfrog development to less-developed regions. The vast market potential of forest extreme sports, along with its strong growth prospects, can directly connect the tourism, sports, and health industries, while also indirectly influencing sectors such as culture and elderly care. Quzhou Kecheng is now setting sail in the “new blue ocean” of the happiness industry.