The Chinese sports history could be traced back to over 4,000 years ago. By the time of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1066-771 BC) archery and Lifting metal tripods had emerged as sports activities in their own right. The origin and development of China's sports activities, such as hunting, archery, rowing race and wrestling , are closely related with the work, production, war and entertainment of that time.

Traditional Chinese culture regards physical fitness as an important aspect, and the China martial arts(Wushu), one of the most popular Chinese sports activities, contains many of the cultural elements. Nowadays, Shaolin Kung Fu and Taijiquan are the well-known global brands of the Chinese Wushu.

There is written evidence that a game similar to football(soccer) was first played in China around 50 BC, and China is recognized by FIFA as the birthplace of football. Since 1994, football has become the largest sports industry in China. Like many other China's professional sports, the Chinese soccer is just in its developental stages, it attracts over 100 milion viewers and its annual output value is more than 150 million US dollars.

 The influx of modern sports appeared in China since the beginning of the 20th Century. Since the mid-20th century, the China mainland government gives more funds on sports and trains many young talented players into professional players, and most Chinese people regard China's top athletes as national heroes. The China advantages sports includes table tennis, badminton, martial arts, weight lifting, diving, shooting, archery, gymnastics, etc.

Chinese people also like mind games. Chinese Chess(Xiangqi) and Go(Weiqi), the most popular mind sports invented in ancient China, become the most important means of cultural exchanges between china and the world. Many Chinese families enjoy playing Mahjong or Poker cards after dinner. The first World Mind Sports Games will be held in China shortly after the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games. About 25~30 gold medals will be vied for by an estimated 2000 competitors from 150 countries. At Least five mind sports have been accepted, which are Bridge, Chess, Go, Draughts and Chinese Chess.

China sent its first athlete to participate in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The Chinese sprinter Liu Changchun entered both the 100m and 200m run, but could not qualify for the final runs. A China team of 69 members  attended the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, but could not win a medal. After World War II,  a Chinese team took part in the 1948 Olympic Games in London. The shooting athlete Xu Haifeng won the first gold medal for China in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, more and more China's athletes won more than 150 gold medals in the following Olympic Games. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, China successfully showed its brilliant ancient civilization and achievements in modernization to the whole world.