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Following an effective and mutually beneficial 11-year partnership, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), and ChinaFit have announced a Strategic Membership Licensing Agreement to expand IHRSA knowledge and membership services through China.

As the second-largest health and fitness club market in Asia, the Chinese market serves upwards of 9 million members across 27,600 clubs and generates roughly $5.2 billion in revenue ($34 billion RMB).

ChinaFit president, Arthur Yan notes “2021, the beginning of a new decade, marks the upgraded cooperation of ChinaFit and IHRSA. IHRSA will open its Chinese-language membership services to the fitness industry in [the] Chinese mainland for the first time.”

As part of the agreement, and to support China’s growing fitness market, key IHRSA documents, presentations, web and social media pages, and research and data reports from around the globe will be translated and offered in Chinese. A team will be in place to provide real-time support to IHRSA members in China to service their additional needs.

John Holsinger, director of IHRSA Asia-Pacific adds “IHRSA is very excited to officially launch our full-immersion membership service program in Chinese.

“IHRSA currently works with several international club brands operating in China. With local translation and servicing personnel providing even greater depth of support to the industry, we look forward to helping raise the operational professionalism, standards, and success of all health and fitness operators throughout China.”

Brent Darden, IHRSA interim president and Chief Executive advised “IHRSA is fully committed to and focused on international fitness industry growth and success.

“We are honoured to expand our cooperation with ChinaFit to position the Chinese industry for future success and look froward to enhancing our global outreach through this partnership. Now is the time to heighten awareness, trends, and knowledge globally to harness the public’s increased perception of wellness.”

Yan added “we hope—and also believe—that the IHRSA membership service system of over 30 years will surely help the domestic fitness industry of China better understand and upgrade their membership services.”

IHRSA and ChinaFit have successfully hosted the annual ChinaFit / IHRSA China Management Forum in cities across China for the past 11 years. The forum is the largest, high-end senior-management conference in the Asia-Pacific region. Attendees participate in interactive workshops focused on personal training management, sales and marketing, customer service, member retention, and more. This year’s event will take place in Hangzhou, China, in December.

ChinaFit is a platform providing global industry information for investors, general managers, coaches and other practitioners in the Chinese fitness industry. ChinaFit is committed to helping the Chinese fitness industry develop and grow.

Since 2009, ChinaFit has organized many events for the industry to exchange expertise with foreign peers in China which has created strong international relationships for the Chinese fitness industry. The ChinaFit Yoga Conference has also been held continuously since 2011. The CHINAFIT Fitness Convention & Trade Show has been held continuously since 2012 and has become the largest annual event for the Chinese commercial fitness industry.

Since 2011, in cooperation with IHRSA, ChinaFit has presented the CHINAFIT / IHRSA China Management Forum in China, which has become an international high-end fitness management forum promoting information exchanges for industry leaders.

The cooperation between ChinaFit and IHRSA upgraded in 2021 when ChinaFit became IHRSA’s strategic partner and will begin to advance its entire membership service in the Chinese mainland.

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