(Yicai Global) Nov. 27 -- The Chinese market of intelligent sports devices straddles a number of industries and has the potential to grow into a CNY1 trillion (USD151.5 billion) market, said Pan Jianchen, chairman of an investment subsidiary of China's State General Administration of Sports, adding that the 'smart sports' industry is still at an early stage of development, and smart sports products vary greatly in quality.

The investment firm set up a CNY20 billion fund as an incubator for smart sports business innovation projects in partnership with Zhejiang Daily Digital Culture Group Co. [SHA:600633] and a trust in Zhejiang, East China, on Nov. 25.

Some 667 smart sports innovation projects were established in China from 2013 to the first half of last year, and 239 of them have yielded returns on investment. They raised a total of CNY21.7 billion funding via 239 financing deals, publicly available data show.

The industry covers a wide variety of technology businesses ranging from sensors, fifth-generation (5G) telecommunication, the Internet of Things (IOT), somatology control and laser display to Big Data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI), Pan advised. The Chinese smart sports market is still fledgling relative to developed nations, where the development of intelligent sports products has already reached a high level, he added. Nike and Adidas have introduced professional sports devices many years ago.

Challenges facing the Chinese smart sports market include the absence of industry standards, low market entry barriers and ineffective market regulation and protection mechanisms, a government official noted.