It followed a vote by the 20 members of the International School Sport Federation's (ISF) Executive Committee.

China, which successfully hosted school sport's blue riband competition in 1998, joined the bidding soon after Chinese Taipei - the offshore island which it refuses to acknowledge as an independent state - had responded to Budapest becoming the first prospective host a year ago.

It was a heavyweight bid from the Chinese, whose delegation in this Sardinian resort was five times larger than that of its rivals and included the Chinese Ambassador to Italy, Li Ruiyu, and the Vice-Minister of Education, Tian Xuejun.

There were also 20 "entrepreneurs" ready to set up commercial partnerships with the ISF should their bid succeed, and a boy and girl of school age who delivered a well-rehearsed discussion about what hosting the 2020 Gymnasiade could mean for them and their fellow pupils.

For China to have been defeated by Chinese Taipei, which hosted the Universiade with broad success earlier this year, would have been a big diplomatic upset.

But the excellence of their bid dossier before the vote, and the resources - human and financial - that they were able to deploy meant that there was only likely to be one winner in what was the first "Olympic-style" vote in the history of an event that was first held at Wiesbaden in 1974.

Li began by reading a letter from China's Vice Premier Liu Yandong which offered the "full support" of the Chinese Government.

Tian announced that the Ministry of Education would provide 200 full scholarships over the next four years to students recommended by the ISF.

Jinjiang's genial Mayor, Liu Wenur, then highlighted the bid’s motto - "Better Us Better Future" - before adding that 99 per cent of local residents and students supported the attempt to host the 2020 event.

He added that 61 per cent of the venues would be established in schools within the city, with €350 million (£311 million/$413 million) being earmarked to upgrade them and €50 million (£44 million/$59 million) being made available for event organisation, with the Government underwriting funding.

He also offered 80 per cent flight discounts and free excess baggage for officials and athletes, and said that the flights and participation fees would be covered for between 20 and 30 underdeveloped nations wishing to take part.

He then confirmed that Jinjiang would build a new venue for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and a new sports youth school, both of which would carry the name of the ISF.

It is understood that Jinjiang also agreed to offer the maximum organisation licence fee, which was recently upgraded by the ISF to a range between €500,000 (£445,000/$590,000) and €2 million (£1.8 million/€2.3 million). 

Taoyuan are believed to have offered a licence fee of €1 million (£888,000/$1.1 million), with a further €500,000 set aside to assist in helping emerging nations.

Budapest, whose financial scope has been severely limited in the wake of the city’s withdrawn bid for the 2024 Olympics, was said to have submitted its bid before the ISF raised the fee from its former level of €50,000 (£44,000/$60,000), which was the level to which it could commit.

The level was raised dramatically to €500,000 by Marrakech, who will become the first African city to host the Gymnasiade next year.

China's other numbers were irresistible.

"There are now 85 million middle school students in China who are keenly expecting the return of the Gymnasiade after 22 years," said the winning city's Mayor.

Asked to highlight the reasons for the Chinese success, ISF President Laurent Petrynka told insidethegames: "Technically, their dossier was at a very high level on all counts.

"The way that they plan to combine education and sport fits in with the ISF's Vision 2030 - their motto of Better Us Better Future is exactly the message we want to promote.

"They are ready to share cultural experiences, and Jinjiang is a very high level city in terms of technology.

"They have shown vision also with their focus on helping to fund the participation of teams from  emerging countries, including in Africa, who don't have access to sport, and particularly girls.

"Their dossier is about helping other countries to come to China and, through sport, crossing borders between people.

"This is a big part of our ideal.

"Often talk of legacy is very empty, but they have decided to build two big venues for the Gymnasiade 2020 that will be dedicated to school sports.

"China has also hosted the Gymnasiade before, and they have always been one of the key members of the ISF family, so we have confidence in their ability to host events.

"If at the same moment you are good, you have vision and you are part of the sports family, then you win.

"The other thing is that you have to go to Jinjiang to understand the tremendous welcome that is there - this is really in their hearts and I think that helped to seduce the jury.

"I am feeling very happy for the athletes.

"From the very beginning of this process we said of course there are technical and political concerns among these candidates, but that we were searching for the best experience for the athletes.

"The way Jinjiang came through on the first vote showed that there was something special in the bid."

ISF secretary general Jan Coolen added: "Jinjiang had the best dossier, and really that says it all.

"We had said the overall level of the dossier would decide which city would win, and in the end it was obvious."

Taoyuan’s presentation was smart and relaxed, and made it clear there was a wealth of experience, intelligence and goodwill within a beleaguered state that has nevertheless put together a solid CV in terms of hosting international sporting events.

Budapest's bid was heartfelt but a little woebegone, as the chief executive for Hungarian School Sport, Balazs Radics, admitted: "To be honest, if it's about the amount of the money we cannot compete with wealthier federations and organisations." 

The Hungarian position was to offer proven organisational ability and to demonstrate that a sustainable and profoundly seriously motivated Gymnasiade could be delivered despite a "moderate, slimmer budget than our rivals today".

But that was not a message to which the ISF voters were attuned on the day.