Amateur football league fuels sports, tourism, catering consumption in Jiangsu

An amateur football tournament in east China's Jiangsu Province, which has become the most igniting sporting phenomenon in the country this summer, is boosting sports, tourism and catering consumption in the province.

Dubbed "Su Super League", the 2025 Jiangsu Football City League made up of 13 city teams in Jiangsu runs from May to November. It has recently gone viral on Chinese social media and sparked a football craze through the passion of players.

In addition to the online viewership that has soared into the hundreds of millions, football fans from around the country flock to the stadiums to watch the exciting matches.

To better accommodate the surging travelers, the authorities of Jiangsu's Suzhou City have worked with hundreds of local businesses and scenic areas to provide shopping, lodging and dining discounts for the football fans.

Tourists holding tickets for the Su Super League matches can visit more than 40 scenic spots across the city for free.

The city has also established 13 football-themed night markets with large TV screens set up for shoppers and diners to watch Su Super League games live, as well as interactive game areas and stalls that sell cultural and creative products.

"While watching football games, we can enjoy the cuisine. The vibe is very good here," said a football fan.

"I think the vibe here is much the same as that at the stadium, because the environment here is very good, and we are all football fans," said another football buff.

While meeting the viewing needs of football fans, the move has benefited businesses near the night markets.

"We are fully booked every time there is a football game. There were just about 30 or 40 people per night. Now, it has increased to 100 people," said Lin Hui, a restaurant manager.

"Our nighttime foot traffic during football games has basically doubled, and our revenue has also increased by nearly 30 percent," said Gu Jinping, deputy general manager of a local restaurant.

In Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, the football frenzy has fueled the demand for football pitches, as fans seek to engage more in the sport themselves.

"Lately, everyone has indeed become more enthusiastic about football, feeling it's very meaningful. Many people have said they want to join our games," said a football fan.

"We used to play three times a week. After Su Super League began, we play six times a week," another football buff said.

"Previously, we served about eight football groups a day at weekends. Now, we serve around 12 groups a day," said Lu Huan, person in charge of a local sports venue with four football pitches.

The sports facility has recently installed an AI vision system that can adjust cameras to capture goals and highlights in real time, automatically generate game relays and highlight videos, providing tactical reference for customers. This has also contributed significantly to its courts' popularity among local football teams.

Amateur football league fuels sports, tourism, catering consumption in Jiangsu

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for renewed efforts to "breathe life into" the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Guterres noted that over decades the international community has built a web of instruments to curb the use, proliferation and testing of nuclear weapons, stressing that the NPT remains the bedrock of efforts to achieve their total elimination. The 11th Review Conference of the Parties is running from April 27 to May 22 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Warning that the treaty is eroding, with commitments unfulfilled and trust wearing thin, the UN chief urged renewed resolve as proliferation pressures heighten.

"This conference provides a timely opportunity to stand together and safeguard humanity from the grave threat of nuclear annihilation," Guterres said.

Noting that "a state of collective amnesia has taken hold" and "nuclear sabers rattle once more," the UN chief said that for the first time in decades, the number of nuclear warheads is "on the rise" and nuclear testing is "back on the table."

"We need to breathe life into the treaty once more," Guterres stressed, urging countries to keep their promises under the NPT.

"It's time to re-commit to disarmament and non-proliferation as the only true path to peace, by reinforcing the norm against nuclear testing, by strengthening the safeguards system and the IAEA's (International Atomic Energy Agency) oversight, and by agreeing (on) the measures needed to prevent nuclear war," Guterres said.

The UN chief stressed that the nuclear threat is compounded by new dangers from rapidly evolving technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, noting that the treaty must grapple with the nexus between nuclear weapons and new technologies.

"With your support and engagement, the treaty can remain an active and strong foundation for a world free of nuclear weapons in our fast-moving age," said the secretary-general.

"So before it's too late: let's break the collective amnesia around nuclear weapons. Let's renew faith in what we can achieve when we stand as one. Let's act with urgency to lift this cloud hanging over humanity," he said.

The NPT, signed in 1968 and effective since March 5, 1970, is the only treaty that contains legally binding commitments to pursuing nuclear disarmament. A total of 191 states have joined the treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon states, making the NPT the most widely adhered to multilateral disarmament agreement.

According to the NPT, a review conference is held every five years to assess the treaty's implementation.

UN chief urges renewed resolve as nuclear treaty credibility erodes amid proliferation pressures