The poster of the Second Beijing University E-sports Festival. The event kicking off on Wednesday seeks to get more young people and professionals involved in the e-sports industry. Photo: Courtesy of Communication University of China

The Second Beijing University E-sports Festival kicked off on Wednesday. The event seeks to get more young people and professionals involved in the e-sports industry.

Held with the support from the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing in conjunction with the Communication University of China (CUC), the festival will last until December 19. It aims at inspiring young people's passion for e-sports. 

Duan Peng, vice president of Communication University of China (CUC), gave a speech at the opening ceremony of the festival Second Beijing University E-sports Festival. The event kicking off on Wednesday seeks to get more young people and professionals involved in the e-sports industry. Photo: Courtesy of CUC

"As a new cultural phenomenon, e-sports have become a strategic emerging industry that our country has been supporting," said Duan Peng, vice president of the CUC, at the opening ceremony of the festival.

The festival also held three competitions, which provided opportunities for the college students who love e-sports to show their talent and advance their careers. 

The first event was held in November 2020.

The e-sports industry soared in 2021, reaching an industry value of 173.60 billion yuan ($27.2 billion) with an over 10 percent increase predicted for the coming year, based on data from the China E-sports Annual Development Report in 2021. 

China's first group of e-sports majors graduated in July. Data shows that even though this major has been underestimated by the public, its future appears promising as there are hundreds of thousands of related jobs available. 

After the Ministry of Education decided that "electronic sports and management" should be listed as a college major in September 2016, around 30 Chinese universities kicked off e-sports courses that same year to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding industry. 

Global Times