Chinese sports authorities have spoken out against a growing trend of lavish fan-led birthday celebrations for national team athletes, such as putting up promotional images on shopping mall screens and organizing offline fan gatherings, saying that such activities consume significant resources and risk disrupting competition preparations, following Chinese table tennis star player Wang Chuqin's own plea for fans to instead focusing on his on-court performance.

An official from the relevant department of the General Administration of Sport of China recently said that the administration has taken note of activities in multiple cities across the country in which fans celebrate the birthdays of national team athletes through mall screen displays and offline gatherings. Such activities not only consume significant public resources but can also interfere with the athletes' training and competition preparations, according to a report by China Central Television (CCTV) News on Sunday.

Furthermore, the unauthorized use of athletes' images by event organizers, malls, and other parties involved may also infringe upon the athletes' legal rights, reported the CCTV News.

The official urged the public to focus on the athletes' on-field performances and cheer them on. The official also called on the public to remain rational, abide by relevant laws and regulations, and refrain from organizing or participating in activities such as athletes' birthday celebrations, said the report.

Over the past few years, there have appeared a trend that fans organize birthday-related activities to express their support for athletes.

On Friday, Wang Chuqin, who is competing at the 2026 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London, posted on China's social media platform Sina Weibo that: "Regarding my upcoming birthday, I do not advocate nor will I participate in any form of birthday fan support activities. Your focus on the competition is the best support you can give me. Let's cheer for the Chinese team together!"

On Friday, according to Sichuan Observation, a media outlet under the Sichuan Media Group, multiple malls in various cities had recently featured a fan-led birthday large-scale projection for Wang. In this form of fan support culture, fans cover the exterior walls or large screens of malls and other buildings with images and posters of their idol to celebrate their birthday, creating a visually striking effect. According to publicly available information, Wang's birthday is May 11.

After Wang posted on Weibo, out of respect for his wishes, a mall in Foshan in South China's Guangdong Province said on Friday that it was canceling its planned birthday support activities, emphasizing that it would completely halt related decorations and large-screen promotions and redirect public attention to the competition. Posts on social media from some fans indicated that support activities in several other locations had also been canceled.

Fans, in turn, have responded to Wang's call. "I hope everyone will just focus on the competition and cheer him on," one fan posted on Weibo.