International Sporting Bids, China, and Relations with Its Neighbours

Since the late 1970s, boosting the economy and international status of China has been constantly placed at the top of Deng Xiaoping and his successors’ working agenda. To this end, the Chinese authorities have keenly liberalised the market so as to facilitate the public to take part in business activities and enable their jurisdiction to engage in international trade mechanisms. They have also proactively adopted measures to strengthen political, economic, and cultural ties between China and its wealthy and mighty neighbours. One of the measures is related to the bidding contests of the world-renowned sporting mega-events. This chapter aims to demystify how the Chinese authorities have astutely leveraged the bidding contests of the 1990 Asian Games, the 2014 Winter Olympics, the 2018 Winter Olympics, and the 2017 Summer Universiade for China's relations with Japan, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan.