ENG-2011 — Page 479

Recreation, Sport and the Arts | 411

It publishes an updated catalogue of Hong Kong-printed books in the Government Gazette every three months. The catalogue can also be viewed on the internet. In 2011, the office registered 14 364 books, 10 928 periodicals, and issued 21 510 book numbers (ISBNs) for 242 publishers.

Sports and Recreation

Hong Kong people are increasingly taking up sports and using public recreational facilities. The LCSD develops and manages these facilities, which include sports grounds, playgrounds, sports centres, holiday camps, water sports centres, swimming pools and beaches. It also organises training courses, sports competitions and other activities for people of all ages and abilities, and provides parks and landscaped open spaces for leisurely enjoyment.

The LCSD provides subventions to 25 holiday camps and sea activity centres run by 12 non-governmental organisations. Some 878 280 people participated in activities organised by these camps and sea activity centres in 2011.

The LCSD also issues and renews licences for places of amusement. In 2011 the LCSD processed 67 applications for billiard establishments, seven for public bowling alleys and eight for public skating rinks.

Hong Kong Sports Institute Limited

The Hong Kong Sports Institute Limited was established on October 1, 2004 to provide an environment in which sports talent can be identified, nurtured and developed. Besides access to high quality sports facilities, the support given to athletes includes coaching and training, sports science and sports medicine, education and employment support. During the year, athletes in 15 sports received dedicated support under the institute's 'Elite Training Programme' which covers athletics, badminton, billiards, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, karatedo, rowing, squash, swimming, table tennis, tenpin bowling, triathlon, windsurfing and wushu. The institute also supports athletes in four other 'up and coming' sports, namely: equestrianism, judo, rugby sevens and tennis, and also supports outstanding athletes under the Individual Athletes Support Scheme and the Disabled Sports Elite Training Programme.

In 2011, the institute focused on the preparation of athletes for the London 2012 Olympic Games and the $1.8 billion redevelopment of the institute, which will provide new, state-of-the-art facilities for training high-performance athletes. In July 2011, the Legislative Council Finance Committee approved a capital injection of $7 billion to establish an 'Elite Athletes Development Fund'. The allocation of a major portion of the investment return from the fund will replace the previous mode of allocating an annual public subvention to the institute, which will in turn help to ensure that the Government meets the long-term funding requirements for providing support to an increasing number of high-performance athletes.