Storyline: International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry on Wednesday expressed her amazement at the development of China's Greater Bay Area, saying that sport has been a part of the development vision for the region. Coventry attended the opening ceremony of the 15th National Games in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Sunday where Chinese President Xi Jinping met with her together with IOC Honorary President for Life Thomas Bach. This year's National Games was co-hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, collectively known as the Greater Bay Area, for the first time. "I didn't quite know what to expect, but the cities are just so beautiful and so developed. When His Excellency (Xi Jinping) and the team earlier were sharing some of the economical values, I was like, 'wow, it's got a bigger economy than Australia already and where it's wanting to go,'" Coventry said. With less than one percent of the country's land area and fewer than five percent of its total population, the Greater Bay Area generates over 10 percent of the country's GDP. "Again, I think the very clear vision that His Excellency has for the area is magnificent. And sport gets to be a part of it, because the sporting facilities are wonderful and athletes and communities get to benefit from that. And that's really powerful," Coventry said. The sports industry is becoming an increasingly important economic pillar to propel the region's development. Coventry commended its role in boosting physical fitness and social connections. "Sport is a trillion-dollar industry around the world, but it's also proving and we can see that it is helping to develop communities and strengthen communities, and also play a huge part on bringing down the expense of a community, because if communities are healthy, that's less pressure on the healthcare system. So it's really nice to see that there's so much investment going in to communities, because investing in sport is investing in communities and having a healthy population is a vibrant population," she said. Shotlist: FILE: Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, south China - Date Unknown: 1. Aerial shots of Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone, buildings FILE: Macao, China - Date Unknown: 2. Aerial shots of cityscape FILE: Hong Kong, China - Date Unknown: 3. Aerial shots of cityscape Beijing, China - Nov 12, 2025: 4. SOUNDBTIE (English) Kirsty Coventry, IOC president: "I didn't quite know what to expect, but the cities are just so beautiful and so developed. When His Excellency (Xi Jinping) and the team earlier were sharing some of the economical values, I was like, 'wow, it's got a bigger economy than Australia already and where it's wanting to go.'" Macao, China - Nov 8, 2025: 5. Aerial shot of East Asian Games Dome 6. Sculpture outside East Asian Games Dome 7. Aerial shot of Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion Beijing, China - Nov 12, 2025: 8. SOUNDBTIE (English) Kirsty Coventry, IOC president: "Again, I think the very clear vision that His Excellency has for the area is magnificent. And sport gets to be a part of it, because the sporting facilities are wonderful and athletes and communities get to benefit from that. And that's really powerful." Macao, China - Nov 8, 2025: 9. Various of decorations, banners for 15th National Games Beijing, China - Nov 12, 2025: 10. SOUNDBTIE (English) Kirsty Coventry, IOC president: "Sport is a trillion-dollar industry around the world, but it's also proving and we can see that it is helping to develop communities and strengthen communities, and also play a huge part on bringing down the expense of a community, because if communities are healthy, that's less pressure on the healthcare system. So it's really nice to see that there's so much investment going in to communities, because investing in sport is investing in communities and having a healthy population is a vibrant population." Macao, China - Nov 8, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland):5th National Games, traffic [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]