Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends the closing ceremony of the 13th Chinese National Games in north China's Tianjin Municipality, Sept. 8, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo)
TIANJIN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The 13th National Games, billed as China's mini-Olympics, closed here on Friday evening after 12 competition days.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced the conclusion of the quadrennial sports gala at a compact and neat closing ceremony in the evening.
The Games, the biggest ever edition since its inauguration in 1959, featured 417 events across 33 sports and drew a total of 12,721 athletes to participate in, in addition to 7,620 amateurs in 126 events of 19 mass programs.
During the 12-day competition, four world records, three Asian marks as well as 11 national and three national junior ones have been shattered in shooting, weightlifting, cycling, athletics and swimming.
Ahead of the official kick-off on Aug. 27, a total of 130 finals in 12 Olympic sports, like marathon, synchronized swimming and tennis, and 17 out of 19 popular programs, such as taichi, chess and rock climbing, have been completed.