Since the founding of the PRC in 1949, China's physical culture and sports have entered a new historical era. Chinese athletes won 1,298 world championships fom March 1959, when Rong Guotuan captured the first world championship for China at the 25th World Table Tennis Championships held in Germany, to 1999. China, one of the strong countries in physical culture in Asia, is well on its way to becoming a strong country in this respect internationally.