Chinese office workers are literally switching to working on the run as the building of bonds with customers and colleagues becomes increasingly trendy.
On mainland social media, increasing numbers of people say running has become their company’s work culture or helped them bond with clients.
A woman based in Beijing said she first learned about the concept of “business running” two years ago when her client invited her on a 7am run.
The woman, surnamed Peng, said the client was difficult, but the networking run went surprisingly well.
“It was the best meeting I had with my client,” she said.
According to Esquire China magazine, the trend is in vogue in Beijing, where sites such as Chaoyang Park and Olympic Forest Park have become a second office for middle-class workers.
A multichannel networks company specialising in sport moved part of its morning meetings to the Olympic Forest Park.
The company’s founder, who goes by the name Neil, said the measure is “killing two birds with one stone”, as the employees could put themselves in their sport-loving clients’ position, while moving their personal running schedules to working hours.
“Networking while running actually has a scientific rationale as running boosts the production of dopamine,” an online observer said.
The “business run” trend has risen alongside a marathon boom.
A total of 749 road-running events were held nationwide in 2024, attracting seven million participants, a million more than the previous year.
Prestigious World Athletics-certified races have become increasingly competitive, with only 7.2 per cent of those who applied to take part in the Shanghai Marathon in 2025 successfully getting a spot.
Marathon running is seen as a middle-class sport in China.
The average cost of being a marathon race runner in 2024 was 13,444 yuan (US$2,000) per person, according to a report by the General Administration of Sport and Xinhuanet.com.
Also, some see road-running races as a sightseeing opportunity, which further increases the cost.
Participants aged between 40 and 44 also outnumber those from other age groups.
Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming once said the reason for the popularity of running among the middle class is that running is the most accessible sport for those who did not receive proper sports education when they were children.
Meanwhile, as more Chinese companies brand running as their work culture and require employees to run, it has become a burden for those not so keen on the sport.
A person from Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province complained that her company forced them to run near West Lake, a famous tourist attraction in the city, every morning at 7am.
She and her colleagues had to pay for a taxi every morning to attend.
The company also required a minimum speed. She said her team leader criticised her publicly over her running time.
In 2023, a person also posted online that she discovered a job that required applicants to do 20 morning runs a month as part of the company’s “impetus programme”.
In 2024, a new graduate said he was sacked for rejecting his company’s 10 km morning run on a Saturday.
Lawyer Yao Zhidou at Jingsh Law Firm said it is illegal for employers to impose unreasonable activities on staff outside working hours.