An opening ceremony for the 15th Sports Games of Shanxi province is held in Taiyuan on Aug 8. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

The 15th Sports Games of Shanxi province opened in Taiyuan on Aug 8.

This year’s event will be divided into two parts, namely competitive sports and public sports. In competitive sports, there will be 497 sporting events in 21 categories. Public sports will consist of 110 sports events targeting groups of workers, farmers, universities, adults and the seniors.

A total of 49 delegations from 11 cities in Shanxi province attended the opening ceremony.

The provincial sports games, a demonstration of Shanxi's achievements in sports development, is of great value to improve the level of competitive sports in Shanxi, promote public fitness and prepare for the second National Youth Games in 2019, said Zhang Fuming, vice-governor of Shanxi province.