The executive committee of the 2025 World Games Chengdu officially released the official mascots and slogans for the sports competition at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
With the 12th edition of the games set to be held in Chengdu City on August 7, 2025, in southwest China's Sichuan Province -- famously home to most of the world's giant pandas -- organizers called for mascot designs that combine Chengdu's love of sports, its abundance of wildlife, and its rich cultural heritage.
The designs of Shubao and Jinzai, the mascots, are inspired by the giant panda and the golden snub-nosed monkey from Sichuan. The mascots were chosen to raise awareness about rare animals and biodiversity protection, organizers said.
The committee also revealed this year's slogan, "Boundless Sports, Countless Wonders" which they said implies the infinite possibilities of sportsmanship and aims to stimulate every athlete to challenge themselves and go beyond the limit.
"We have considered sporty flavor, Chengdu's unique style and international communication to select a widely representative and recognized slogan. The design of the mascots is inspired by rare animals and signature plants, intangible cultural heritage textiles and unearthed cultural relics with profound historical significance, which are delicately fused together," said Xu Xingguo, deputy mayor of Chengdu Municipal People's Government and executive vice president and secretary-general of the Executive Committee of Chengdu World Games.
Shubao, the giant panda mascot, features Chengdu's city flower, the hibiscus, in its inner ears, while Jinzai, the golden snub-nosed monkey mascot, has ears transformed from artifacts excavated from the Sanxingdui site.
Their attire, woven with Shu Brocade, one of China's four famous styles of floral woven fabric, depicts lucid waters and lush mountains, and the pattern embodies the Sun and Immortal Birds Gold Ornament, a symbol of China's cultural heritage.
Held every four years, the World Games offer a high-level platform for many non-Olympic sports. The Chengdu games will include drone sports, fin swimming, pool life-saving, and cheerleading, with 35 sports in total.
2025 World Games Chengdu unveils slogan, mascots
The high-quality development of east China's Shandong Province featuring innovation and green development has been providing opportunities to foreigners ranging from business promoters to even internet influencers.
As leader in the country's foreign trade, the coastal province of Shandong has been making consistent efforts to push forward its high-level opening-up.
In the first half of this year, Shandong imported and exported 1.62 trillion yuan (230 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods, marking a 4.3-percent year-over-year increase, according to the customs data released in mid-July.
The province's export to regions like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), South Korea, and Brazil continued growing during the period.
Ryan Norman, an American living in Rizhao City, has been witnessing all the changes for years as Shandong's close economic ties with the world have boosted its development.
By sharing short videos of him wondering in local markets and making dishes in a big wok, Ryan has attracted over one million followers on social media.
"I am Ryan Norman, an American from California. Now I am married with a Rizhao woman. I have been in China for 19 years. I did some business before, but in recent years I've been making short videos. If the weather is good, staying on beach makes me happier. There is a 28-kilometer sunshine seaside track and every summer, we run back and forth along the track," he said.
The high-quality development of Shandong comes together with green development. In 2023, the province generated over 158 billion kilowatt-hours of green power from new energy and renewables, increasing by 21.9 percent year on year and representing 24.4 percent of the total power generated, up 3.6 percent from 2022.
Last year, the province issued a three-year action plan on promoting green and low-carbon high-quality development, as the province is set to pursue a deep integration of culture and tourism.
"As the environment is getting better and better, more locals like to visit our tea tourism cultural park and its good reputation has attracted droves of tourists," said Yan Zaoning, director of a local tea park.
Sebastian Valcic from Germany now works in an innovation zone in Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong. He said in recent years, he witnessed over 500 enterprises from countries like Germany, France, Finland, and Japan setting branches in the innovation zone, and these changes boosted his confidence in China's high-quality development.
"Thanks to the institutional and mechanism reform of the Jinan Innovation Zone, I, as a German, can have the opportunity to join the investment promotion department of the Jinan Innovation Zone management committee. I am responsible for attracting global investment. Over the recent years, our team has signed over 100 projects. The Jinan Innovation Zone is a national new- and high-tech development zone, a free trade zone, a comprehensive bonded zone, a pilot zone for upgrading development engine, and a sci-tech innovation financial reform pilot zone. The innovation zone has so many institutional innovations and preferential policies for expanding opening-up. Every time we have an investment promotion event, I always want the investors to know how special here is," said Sebastian Valcic, an external liaison officer of the management committee's investment promotion department.
Apart from attracting investment, Sebastian Valcic said his team will also work to connect enterprises so that they can cooperate with potential partners up and down the industrial chain.
"We will introduce companies up and down the industrial chain to the enterprises so that they can connect, communicate, and cooperate with one another," he said.
According to its three-year action plan, Shandong will continue to enhance the quality and level of its trade and investment by enhancing the efficiency of using foreign investment and deepening international economic and trade cooperation.
Shandong high-quality development provides opportunities to international firms, individuals
