Generally speaking, Chinese students' physical condition is favorable. However, many big problems have not been effectively checked, such as the continuous decline of physical quality like vital capacity, the increase of the number of overweight students and the high rate of shortsighted students, etc., according to the result of 2004 students' physical quality and health surveillance report recently released by the Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education founded "national students' physical quality and health surveillance network" in 2002. It carries out surveillance towards the physical quality and health condition of Chinese students once every two years. This time 182, 964 students living in urban and rural areas between seven and twenty-two have taken part in the surveillance.

In order to solve the existing problems, the Ministry of Education requests schools to emphasize physical education, as well as to positively promote the development of students' extracurricular sports activities and the activities during long breaks between classes, and students should make sure to have one hour sports time every day.

(People's Daily July 30, 2005)