Xiong'an Sports Center Photo: VCG
With a humanoid robot from Unitree Robotics delivering the game ball,
MK sports Korea the Xiong'an international women's basketball invitational kicked off with a match between WCBA's Jiangsu Nangang and Serbian league team FK Vojvodina. The Sunday evening also marked the official opening of the Xiong'an Sports Center after 1,000 days of construction, the Global Times learned from the China Xiong'an Group on Monday.
Located in the northern part of the Xiong'an New Area's startup zone, the Xiong'an Sports Center comprises a stadium, gymnasium, and swimming hall, along with outdoor sports fields and fitness trails. It is one of Xiong'an's landmark buildings, with the stadium offering 30,000 seats, the gymnasium 10,000 seats, and the swimming hall 2,051 seats.
"As the first large-scale comprehensive sports complex in the Xiong'an New Area, the center can host high-level international competitions, performances, and exhibitions, while also serving as a comprehensive sports park for local residents. It caters to a variety of needs, including sports, leisure, and shopping, thereby promoting equal access to public services," Liu Zhiyuan, director of the Cultural and Sports Operations Division at China Xiongan Group Public Services, told the Global Times on Monday.
The center's architectural design reflects a distinctly Chinese aesthetic, blending square and circular geometry with traditional Chinese minimalism. Viewed from the side, the three main structures - the stadium, gymnasium, and swimming hall - resemble "mountains," while an aerial view shows them as "seals," symbolizing the imprint of Eastern beauty on Xiong'an's urban landscape.
"The design follows an east-west functional axis, organizing spectator flow and service systems for the stadium, gymnasium, and swimming hall through a horizontal axis. A 'double-layer ground' traffic system separates pedestrians and vehicles," Liu said.
According to CCTV News, the gymnasium is equipped with a retractable seating system with a total capacity exceeding 2,800 seats. The modular design allows for rapid scene transitions to accommodate different events and performances. Each seat is equipped with individual air outlets to ensure good ventilation. Spectators also benefit from a 360-degree immersive viewing system and dual-layer 4K LED ring screens.
Notably, the Xiong'an Sports Center is the first near-zero energy consumption venue in the Xiong'an New Area, with renewable energy utilization exceeding 40 percent.
To celebrate the center's opening, a series of celebratory activities kicked off on Saturday and are set to end on Tuesday. In addition to the women's basketball invitational, the festivities feature a sports marketplace with biking, street skateboarding challenges and interactive entertainment. Robotic lion dances by robots, humanoid giant mascots, and more are enlivening the event.
Moving forward, the center aims to integrate sports and culture by exploring new cultural tourism scenarios and contributing to the cultural and sports development of the Xiong'an New Area. It is also expecting to hold the U21 and CUBA basketball games.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Xiong'an New Area, established on April 1, 2017, is a nationally significant undertaking that comes after the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Pudong New Area of China's Shanghai Municipality. It is also a historic strategic choice for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region after the planning and construction of Beijing's sub-center.
Xiong'an New Area has now entered a phase of large-scale construction while simultaneously accepting the relocation of a portion of Beijing's functions, according to a report released on the Xiong'an New Area's official website on March 13.
