In 2019, MLB estimated that there were around 21 million active baseball fans in China, with most of them having started following baseball in recent years.[1][2]
History
Baseball was first introduced to China in 1864 with the establishment of the Shanghai Baseball Club by American medical missionary Henry William Boone.[3] The Qing dynasty then began sending Chinese students to America to learn more about the game.[4] Organized baseball games were established with a game between the St. Johns University and the Shanghai MCA baseball club in 1905. In 1915, China placed second to the Philippines in a Greater Asia tournament.[5] In the 1940s, Communist forces began using baseball as a way to cultivate discipline and to become better at throwing grenades.[4]
Variations of baseball, such as slow-pitch softball and Baseball5, have helped power the growth of the sport in China.[1]Major League Baseball has put significant effort into spreading the sport in China, such as by starting the Play Ball initiative that has reached over 5 million school children since 2008.[8]