The games featured 8608 athletes from 45 delegations, including the various Chinese provinces and regions as well as occupational divisions (e.g. People's Liberation Army, China Railway Corporation).

[1] The CCP General Secretary and President of China Jiang Zemin officially opened the games at the opening ceremony.

As a result, many prominent international guests were invited to the games in Guangzhou, including IOC president Jacques Rogge.

The international dimension of the games was increased in comparison to previous years as many of the delegations had appointed foreign-born coaches and foreign referees were invited to the event to improve impartiality judge-based sports.

High performances levels were achieved in a number of sports: seven women's weightlifting world records were broken, six Asian records were beaten in swimming, cycling and athletics, and a total of 37 Chinese national records were set during the 15-day competition.