China's political advisory body has called for more efforts to mobilize Chinese citizens to exercise more.

The CPPCC's national committee said that a physical fitness regulation has been in place since 2009, but there is no adequate policy support, and there are few venues and facilities that people can use.

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NBA superstar Yao Ming led Thursday's symposium on what else needed to be done to keep people more physically fit, an issue that had been discussed during the CPPCC's annual session in early March.

After the symposium, the group decided that competitive sports shall take the lead in the national fitness program, followed closely by public fitness initiatives.

To enable this, the group called for the construction of more sports facilities, additional venues for mass exercise, and that physical fitness is made a part of socio-economic development plans, both on the national and community levels.

They also called for reforms in the physical education program of schools, urging administrators and teachers to make sure students get at least an hour of exercise every day.

Interestingly, China's senior citizens are not as remiss in their physical fitness regimen as younger people are, although lately, they've had to face challenges whenever they do their dance exercises in public.

Public dancing, mostly done by the elderly, is a physical activity that is deeply embedded in Chinese culture.

But as urban development encroached on erstwhile empty spaces, elders have run out of venues for their exercise routine, forcing them to do it in community parks and whatever open spaces remained in their neighborhood.

In turn, these dancing seniors were pelted, screamed at, and bullied by citizens who complain about the noise generated by such dance-exercise gatherings.

It is not clear if physical fitness for the elderly is included in the political advisory body's move to mobilize Chinese citizens to exercise more.