(Yicai Global) March 21 -- China Sports Venue Association (CSVA) announced the establishment of an e-sports branch at its annual meeting today and will set up the first e-sports organization that will use sports venues as its vehicle this year.

CSVA held its annual meeting in Zhangjiakou just north of Beijing in China's east-central Hebei province today. It unanimously approved the proposal for the formation of an e-sports branch dedicated to creating professional e-sports venues, integrating various functions like competition training, interactive experience, content production, fan gatherings and presentations and releases. It will also promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional sports venues.

The electronic sports branch will also integrate resources such as venue design and construction, equipment manufacturing, game development, program production, education and training and event activities. It will further work on e-sports industry standard formulations, research projects, event organization and international exchanges.

The overall size of China's e-sports market reached CNY65 billion (USD10 billion) last year. The number users who frequently play e-sport-related games or watch related live broadcasts hit 260 million, statistics from Chinese marketing institute iResearch show.