Investing in the football industry of Greater China

Coping with the global financial crisis

The 2008 global financial tsunami has done great damage to the world economy. As the world’s biggest developing country and the largest producer and exporter of light industry consumer goods, China has been faced with a huge challenge in adjusting its industrial structure. At the same time, the United Kingdom, one of the world’s leading creators and exporters in the cultural and sports sector, is now looking for commercial investment from countries such as the United States, Germany, France, Italy and regions like Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as seeking commercial partners with investment strength and a huge consumer market. With the involvement of such a major commercial partner, famous global enterprises and brands would be able to promote their products to a new market, thereby deriving new momentum to sustain their global growth. This is believed to be the best approach to solving the critical problems of the dramatic dip in corporate and individual investment and a shrinking domestic consumption market in developed countries. Not only can it help Chinese enterprises and brands enter global markets, but it will also introduce international enterprises and brands into the Chinese market.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games provided compelling evidence of China’s current sporting strength, with the exception of football, whose development has lagged far behind other sports. PRC Vice President Xi Jinping said when visiting the Bayer Group in Germany in 2009, "We have hosted the Olympic Games. Since other sports in China can reach Gold Medal level, we are determined to raise the level of our football as well. But there is still a long way to go." Other Chinese leaders have also attached great importance and attention to developing the level of football in China.

On 8 November 2005, the President of People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao, paid an official visit to the UK. Queen Elizabeth II held a State Banquet for President Hu at Buckingham Palace. In her speech, the Queen stressed that “China’s development has caught the world’s attention and admiration.” The two leaders commented on the ongoing good relationship between the two countries and emphasized that “our growing cultural and sporting exchanges highlight the long-standing traditions of our two countries as well as their vitality and creativity.”

The Sino-U.K. School Football Project was set up by Dr. Sun Yi Xian's Youth Foundation and has been running for eight years thanks to the support of the English Schools’ Football Association (ESFA), some famous British football clubs, and many friends who support China's football education and industrial reform. On 26 January 2006, the foundation invited four Chinese officials in charge of sports and cultural exchanges to attend ESFA’s 102nd anniversary.  This visit enabled the Chinese officials to gain a better understanding of the long history and achievements of football training in English schools. In August 2006, with funds raised by Dr. Sun Yi Xian's Youth Foundation to develop the Sino-UK Schools Football Project, a U18 China Schools football team was sponsored to visit the UK for the first time as a cultural exchange event between the two countries.

In addition, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Beijing on 6 September 2005. He paid a visit to a local stadium where a group of young Chinese football players were training and expressed his hope of introducing British football education and management concepts into China to promote football industry co-operation between the UK and China, an important component of the cultural exchange programme between the two countries.

We are now in the middle of a special period between the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2012 London Olympic Games and bilateral exchange and co-operation in the sporting field have been strengthened. Britain has a leading position in the creative industry with advanced concepts and talented executives, while China is rapidly establishing a youth-oriented consumer market on the basis of 30 years of success in economic reform.

An ongoing investigation into corruption is sweeping through China’s football sector and its management system with the expectation that a thorough overhaul of the system will result. It is hoped that this will lead to the establishment of a law-based environment, with participation and supervision by ordinary people and the media, for the benefit of the long-term development of China’s football industry. 

The key points of the Sino-U.K. School Football Project are to train professional and after-hours football coaches from the ranks of Chinese school teachers who are interested in teaching school football, and to import and promote British teaching material as well as the advanced education concepts and management system widely used for U18 football teams in British schools and famous football clubs. We look forward to football fans all over the world, the PRC Education Ministry, provincial governments and education departments, friends from China’s commercial sectors, and anyone with a passion for football to show their interest and support for the Sino-UK Schools Football Project. 

We hope that the project will be carried out in most Chinese schools as an addition to the annual National Youth Schools Football Event arranged by the Chinese Education Ministry and that it can truly be successful in introducing into China the educational concepts of “the people’s game” and “the beautiful game” from the Western world. We also hope that after this project produces beneficial results, China’s success in reforming its football industry can be used as a good example so that the experience can be applied as a guide in other cultural and sports industries. The project will also create a new core competitive strength for the nation and eventually enable the investments in culture and sports to lead to further economic growth. In this way, many more job opportunities and tax income can be generated for the nation.

It is our fervent hope that a new elite generation of footballing talent can emerge in China equipped with the right attitude, moral integrity, advanced educational achievements and imbued with a strong national spirit. We look forward to the day when China can produce its own home-grown talent to rival great football stars like Pele, Maradona, Beckham, Owen, and Rooney.