Purpose: To analyze the strategies, motives, and future challenges of the Chinese governmentn interfering in elite table tennis within the four different regimes of Chinese leaders after 1949. Methods: A documentary analysis method has been applied to generate and integrate materials, including official/semi-official documents of the Chinese government, academic journals, and the media commentaries. Meanwhile, interviews with officials in the General Administration of Sport (GAS) and the Chinese Table Tennis and Badminton Management Center (CTTBMC) were also conducted. Results: The instrumental value of 'ping-pong diplomacy', which was to break through difficult diplomatic situation, was emphasized in the Mao Zedong regime. The 'open door' policy in the Deng Xiaoping regime contributed to the 'sport reform.' In order to solve problems of players' migrating to other countries after the 'reform and open' policy, the government of Jiang Zemin advocated the development of professional table tennis league. Now, Hu Jintao has to face the challenges from globalization and commercialization of the China Table Tennis Super League. Conclusions: The development of elite table tennis in China, through government funding in public and private sectors, had made significant advances in the early stage of the sport. Nevertheless, because the Chinese government recognizes the professional table tennis league as a 'subordinate' one in the Chinese elite sport training system, to some extent, this may influence the 'real' professionalizing process of the China Table Tennis Super League.