China is a large sports nation and a powerhouse in Olympic sports.
The Asian Giant bagged 38 golds, finishing second in the last Olympics. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China led the gold medal count, capturing 51 golds. At the Los Angeles, Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics, China came fourth in the gold medal tally, respectively, and at the Athens Olympics, moved up to the second spot.
中國是一個體育大國，也是奧林匹克體育強國。在上一屆奧運會中，中國摘得38金，位列金牌榜第二。在2008年北京奧運會中，中國狂攬51金，以超出第二名美國15金的絕對優勢傲居金牌榜榜首。在洛杉磯奧運會、巴塞羅那奧運會和亞特蘭大奧運會中，中國皆位居金牌榜第四位，而在雅典奧運會中躍居第二位。
Major Sports
Although China has long been associated with the martial arts, a large number of sports activities, both Western and traditionally Chinese, are enjoying high popularity in today's China.
主流體育項目
雖然長期以來中國一直都以武術而聞名，但包括很多中國傳統體育運動與西方現代運動項目在今日的中國都很受歡迎。
Basketball, soccer, tennis and table tennis are the main sports in China. In the past few years, China's boxing has achieved a series of historical breakthroughs in the Olympics.
籃球、足球、網球和乒乓球是當下在中國十分流行的四大主流體育項目。近十年來，中國拳擊在奧運會中接連取得歷史性突破，成為了新的備受關注的項目。
Traditional sports with distinct Chinese characteristics are also very popular, including martial arts, taijiquan and qigong.
帶有中國特色的傳統運動健身項目在當下的中國同樣也十分流行，如武術、太極拳和氣功等。
The Business Side
Prior to the 1990s, sports in China, as in some other countries, were completely government-funded.
體育的商業化
在20世紀90年代以前，與其他的一些國家相類似，中國的競技體育是完全由國家支持的。
The situation began to change in 1994 when Chinese football became the first sport to take the road of professionalization, and, in its wake, similar reforms were carried out in basketball, volleyball and pingpong, among others.
從90年代開始，中國體育開始逐步走向市場化。1994年，足球成為了中國第一個邁向職業化道路的體育運動。隨后，籃球、排球、乒乓球和拳擊等運動項目也相繼進行了職業化改革。
The process brought with it commercialization: sport associations became profit-making entities and a club system came into being; professional leagues formed, improving China's sports environment; and commercial management systems took shape. The professionalization of sports has encouraged the emergence of a sports management market and business-structured system.
這一改革過程帶來了商業化效應：體育組織成為了盈利機構，職業俱樂部機制被引入，職業聯盟應運而生，商業化的運行體制逐步形成。
Another result of the reform is that Chinese athletes are allowed to joined foreign professional leagues.
中國體育職業化改革帶來的另一結果是，中國運動員能夠在一定程度上自由加入國外職業俱樂部。
（作者厲振羽，系國際主流媒體體育專欄作家、中國日報網特約專欄作家）
來源：人民網
