In 2019, MLB estimated that there were around 21 million active baseball fans in China, with most of them having started following baseball in recent years.[1] [2]
Baseball was first introduced to China in 1864 with the establishment of the Shanghai Baseball Club by American medical missionary Henry William Boone.[3] The Qing dynasty then began sending Chinese students to America to learn more about the game.[4] Organized baseball games were established with a game between the St. Johns University and the Shanghai MCA baseball club in 1905. In 1915, China placed second to the Philippines in a Greater Asia tournament.[5] In the 1940s, Communist forces began using baseball as a way to cultivate discipline and to become better at throwing grenades.
In 1959, a nationwide baseball competition began.[6] However, in the same year, Mao Zedong disbanded all the teams and outlawed baseball and other Western-origin influences as part of the Cultural Revolution. After the Cultural Revolution ended, baseball activities restarted, and the China Baseball Association formed in 1974.[7] In 2002, the China Baseball League was formed and in 2019 China National Baseball League. China participates in the World Baseball Classic. Defeats of the national team to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea may help change the trend as Chinese become more aware of the game's internationalization.[8]
Variations of baseball, such as slow-pitch softball and Baseball5, have helped power the growth of the sport in China. Major League Baseball has put significant effort into spreading the sport in China, such as by starting the Play Ball initiative that has reached over 5 million school children since 2008.[8]