China's National Games reflect unity, connectivity in Greater Bay Area: official

The 15th National Games, underway across Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macao SARs, showcases the spirit of unity and connectivity driving the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), according to a senior Hong Kong official.

Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hong Kong, said that the event has strengthened emotional bonds across the GBA and also reflected the development goals rooted in unity and common origin.

"The first thing (the National Games) profoundly reflects is the convenience of the 'one-hour living circle' in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as well as the 'one-journey, multi-stop Tour' travel experience. This time people get to see our high-speed rail and other aspects of our well-developed transportation in the GBA. So I often say that people can watch a swimming competition in Shenzhen today and go to Macao tomorrow to watch a table tennis match," she said.

The official added that the Games not only deepen public understanding of multi-destination travel, but also deliver tangible economic benefits for Hong Kong. She noted that exchanges between athletes from Hong Kong and other regions underscore the unifying power of sports.

"We also feel that the National Games give us a very good opportunity. Our sectors, including catering, retail and others, have become extremely lively. The national team and sports teams from across the country have helped us a lot. For example, our handball team performed very well this time, but actually our goalkeeper went to Beijing to train for a few months, which led to today's outstanding results," she noted.

The 15th National Games,running from Nov 9 to 21, mark the first time that the three Chinese regions are co-hosting the country's highest-level and largest national multi-sport event.

To mark Chinese Sturgeon Protection Day, around 550,000 Chinese sturgeons were released into Jingzhou and Yichang sections of the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province, as well as in Shanghai, on Saturday.

Nicknamed "aquatic pandas," Chinese sturgeons have existed for over 140 million years. However, the natural population of the species in the Yangtze plummeted in the late 20th century due to intrusive human activities.

The fish is primarily protected through artificial breeding followed by release into the natural environment. In recent years, China has made significant conservation efforts, including expanding artificial breeding and release and fostering natural breeding of the species.

The annual releases of captive-bred Chinese sturgeons have exceeded 1 million for two consecutive years since 2024, effectively replenishing wild populations of the endangered species.