Mr. Zhang Chuanliang – Our 27 years of efforts means we have got potential in boxing

Mr. Zhang Chuanliang is the President of the Chinese Boxing Federation who has been elected this July short after the ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships. Mr. Zhang Chuanliang was the head coach of the Chinese national boxing team between 2004 and 2012 therefore he has got experiences in all areas of our sport.
China claimed medals in the recent editions of the Olympic Games and in the AIBA World Boxing Championships. On those events the country showed their women’s boxing life is one of the best in the world. China launched its WSB team in 2015 and has got excellent potential for the future in boxing.

– Could you please introduce your country’s boxing life?
– Boxing was brought into China in the early 20th Century, called “Western boxing” in that period. After the founding of People’s Republic of China, some boxing competitions were held in 1953, 1956, 1957 and 1958 but then this sport was stopped until 1993 when we could return in the 7th Chinese National Games.
The first Chinese national boxing team was built in 1988 and their opening mission was the Beijing 1990 Asian Games where Bai Chongguang claimed a gold medal at the 81kg. The first Chinese gold medal in the Asian Boxing Championships was achieved by Tao Jiang in 1994. China hosted the Mianyang 2005 AIBA World Boxing Championships where Zou Shiming claimed our first gold medal.
Zou Shiming won bronze medal in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and after that he won two Olympic titles in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012. In the history of the AIBA World Boxing Championships Zou Shiming is one of the most successful boxer, he took 3 gold and 1 silver medal. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was a glory for the Chinese boxing with the result of 2 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
Meantime, women’s boxing in China made a great progress. Since our first gold medal of the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Scranton where Zhang Maomao achieved the title, the Chinese ladies won several gold medals in the big events. Chinese women boxers acquired 2 silver medals and 3 bronze totally in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

– Would you like to tell us your strategic plans for the future and the key developments in your country?
– Response to the “Belt and Road Initiative”, Chinese Boxing Federation is planning to establish the “Belt and Road Boxing League” and the host the competition in the near future. We would like to invite boxers from those countries which are members of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to China for training and for competitions. We hope the Asian countries will play more important role in the World’s boxing with exchanging the experiences and increase the cooperation. Meanwhile, we hope we can propagandize the Chinese culture and sport art through the “Belt and Road Boxing League”.
Secondly we are planning to develop grassroots in boxing in China promoting our sport more actively in the lower age groups. Our program, “Boxing enters into school” is a plan to involve more 9-11 year-old boys and girls.

– What are the main strengths and issues in your boxing life?
– The Governmental support, the society involvement and the good boxing atmosphere are our main strengths in China. Following our 27 years of efforts, we have got a lot of potential in all aspects of the sport. Our athletes, coaches and officials are experienced and we have got good relationships with the international organizations and other national boxing associations.