[2] After the formation of the IWUF at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing,[3] the 1991 World Wushu Championships were quickly organized to be held in the same city.
With the desire of reaching a wider global audience and to achieve recognition by the International Olympic Committee, the 3rd and 4th world championships were organized in the United States and Italy, respectively, the first major international wushu competitions outside of Asia.
[6] The same competition along with the 12th and 15th WWCs served as qualification for Wushu at the World Games.The 16th WWC was rescheduled from 2021 to 2023 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
[7] The 1st WWC consisted of changquan, daoshu, jianshu, gunshu, qiangshu, nanquan, taijiquan, and men's sanda (originally called sanshou).
The 2015 WWC also introduced traditional events: men's xingyiquan and dadao, and women's baguazhang and shuangjian.