Cultural Industry Policy and Public Engagement in China’s Rural Development: Evidence from the Guizhou Village Super League

This paper examines how cultural industry policy orientations interact with grassroots public engagement in shaping rural football culture in contemporary China, using the Guizhou Village Super League (Cun Chao) in Rongjiang County as a focal case. Rather than treating policy as a general background, the paper conceptualizes it as an enabling condition that legitimizes local cultural initiatives, expands access to resources and visibility, and creates institutional space for collective participation under the broader agenda of rural revitalization. The Village Super League illustrates a participatory cultural form characterized by community-based organization, non-commercial norms, and locally embedded cultural practices. By analyzing the policy–participation linkage reflected in this case, the paper argues that sustainable rural sports culture is more likely to emerge when policy support reinforces, rather than replaces, grassroots autonomy and everyday communal involvement. The study contributes to discussions on rural cultural governance and cultural industry development by clarifying the mechanisms through which public participation can be amplified within a supportive policy environment.