Anti-doping in China: an analysis of the policy implementation processes through stakeholders’ perspectives

Despite the vast research on anti-doping policy, little is known about anti-doping in China and how it responds to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Yet this is an important area for understanding anti-doping at the international level. This article explains anti-doping policy implementation processes in China. It uses the Van Meter and Van Horn top-down policy implementation approach to interpret 42 interviews that come from nine different locations in China and from staff at WADA and other National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs), to provide a comprehensive understanding of anti-doping implementation. The results demonstrate that while China has the organizational and financial resources to support anti-doping, some potential risks cannot be ignored, such as funding shortages in poorer provinces, the insufficient manpower of the Doping Control Officers (DCOs), and having a clearer strategy for student and non-elite sports contexts.CHINADA pays less attention to school students, mass sports and public sports clubs.The shortage of DCOs in China is a problem.The vertical communication led by CHINADA is quite frequent and compulsory, but horizontal communication between each local anti-doping agency barely takes place.The mechanism for enhancing police powers to do so would be to codify anti-doping within the criminal law and justice system.The anti-doping policy does not attract much attention from the public and society, who are barely aware of it.