IOF enters key agreement with Huichang to support global development

IOF enters key agreement with Huichang to support global development

The International Orienteering Federation and the Chinese manufacturer of timing equipment for orienteering, Huichang, have entered into an agreement that will support the development of the sport in large parts of the world.

The agreement means that the IOF will be able to lend, and after sucessful usage in a period, give away, a wide range of Huichang start kits to the National Federations, thereby gaining access to professional timing equipment. This will lower the barrier to delivering high-quality orienteering events.

Huichang will also actively support organisers of IOF Gold WRE events in China in the coming years, enabling quality races for the worlds top athletes and promoting Orienteerings visibility in China.

Founded in 2009, Huichang is a tech company consisting of deep enthusiasts of orienteering, who have specialized in orienteering product innovation.

For the past 17 years, Huichang has been committed to advancing orienteering in China and its timing system was used for 1748 events in 2025 – one of them the Chinese Orienteering Championships   In total, more than 1,000,000 race starts were recorded last year using Huichang equipment, and aside that, the system is becoming increasingly popular in schools and at club level due to its ease of use.

“This opportunity to collaborate with IOF is a great chance for us to promote our products worldwide. Together with IOF, we can assist more countries and regions in developing this interesting sport, allowing more people to participate in orienteering and enjoy it” says Huichang CEO Lian Chuan.

The IOF is also pleased about the agreement:

“The scale of the engagement from Huichang is impressive as well as the track record of successful events performed using the system in China. In IOF, we work every day towards our main goal, which is to become a global and sustainable sport, and this agreement is an important step on that way. For several of our emerging Federations, access to quality competition and timing equipment remains a significant hurdle for development. Through this cooperation, the IOF would be able to support our National Federations by improving access to professional timing equipment and making it easier for them to organise for example, national championships and World Ranking Events, says IOF CEO Henrik Eliasson.

The IOF will utilize its network of Regional Development Consultants to map the needs, and encourage the National Federations to apply for the support program.