AI Expands Across China’s Sports Sector, from Training to Officiating
Dragon Media News Desk
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly common in major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and Grand Slam tennis tournaments, similar technologies are now reaching grassroots athletes, youth sports and everyday fitness in China.
At the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services, held at Beijing’s Shougang Park, the sports services exhibition area was transformed into a functioning sports venue to demonstrate how AI and digital technologies are being applied to training, officiating and recreational fitness.
On an indoor tennis court, visitors tested the AI-powered Smartshot system, which tracks player movement, ball trajectories, landing positions and shot speed. Gao Kai, a product operations manager for the system, said on-site cameras capture every rally in real time and generate detailed performance analysis and highlight videos for both training and competition.
According to Gao, the technology is changing the way players train, compete and improve their performance. The system has already been deployed in several Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenyang and Yinchuan, and is gradually entering overseas markets such as Canada and Australia.
The exhibition also featured a simulated video assistant referee control room developed by Beijing Rigour Technology, along with intelligent officiating systems for volleyball, baseball and softball. In 2023, FIFA confirmed that the company’s VAR and offside technologies had been tested and certified according to FIFA standards.
Wu Guoyu, a project manager with Rigour Technology, said human referees are naturally limited by eyesight and reaction time, making it difficult to capture every detail in fast-paced competition. AI-based systems, he said, can provide more objective replay and decision support.
In football offside decisions, for example, the system analyzes camera feeds using deep-learning models and image-processing algorithms. Once an offside is identified, it generates a precise line on the broadcast image to assist referees in making decisions.
Developers are also working to bring such technologies beyond elite competition and into amateur, youth and community sports. Wu noted that many grassroots competitions do not have professional referees and sometimes rely on players themselves to agree on whether a ball was in or out, which can easily lead to disputes.
He said there is growing demand for more affordable and accessible intelligent officiating systems designed for the general public.
AI and digital technologies are also widening access to recreational sports. Activities such as rowing, canoeing and skiing traditionally require specific natural conditions and facilities, but virtual sports technologies can simulate these experiences in a much broader range of settings.
Exhibitor Mei Zijia said virtual sports venues can function as daily fitness centers while also hosting virtual competitions. He added that sports services are increasingly moving beyond the sale of equipment toward integrated solutions tailored to different sporting scenarios.
A report on China’s sports services trade and development released during the fair showed that total imports and exports of major sports services reached 74.875 billion yuan, about $11.16 billion, in 2025, up 7.98 percent year on year.
Yang Xuedong, economic director at China’s General Administration of Sport, said the country’s sports services trade had reached a new level, with significant improvements in both trade structure and the broader sports economy.
He said China will accelerate the use
