By Sportswriters Ma Xiangfei, Cao Jianjie and Pan Yi
BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- China laid out a lofty goal in its football reform plan published last year.
But the country's aim of becoming a world football powerhouse by 2050 is about more than just a moonshot at a World Cup title. China's football reform plan is about a broader commitment to the development of sport both within and outside its borders.
It's a commitment exemplified in the recent surge of investment from Chinese firms into top-flight football clubs across Europe.
Following Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Britain, China Media Capital and investment company Citic Capital purchased a 13-percent stake in Manchester City's parent company.
During that visit, Xi, an avid football fan, also toured the Man. City Football Academy and bumped into City star Sergio Aguero. Aguero grabbed a selfie with the Chinese leader, who in February 2015 led a central leading group in rolling out a milestone football reform plan for China.
The plan, encouraging private sector investment and setting a long-term goal of making the country a top-tier football power, has been well-received by Chinese investors and the general public alike.
"It is a blueprint for the sport's future against the backdrop of the country's dream of national rejuvenation. So the plan will not just place patches here or there or solely concentrate on competition results. It is a long-term project to raise the level of the game, and focus on the sport's positive effect on the economy, society and culture," said Chinese Football Association head Cai Zhenhua after the reform plan was published in March of last year.
Favorable policies drew a fervent response from Chinese investors, whose shopping spree in top European football culminated in Chinese electronics giant Hisense acting as a global partner for Euro 2016.
Hisense reportedly spent 370 million yuan (55.56 million US dollars) for its debut in the top European football event, a sum amounting to about 25 percent of the firm's net profit last year. Hisense is the first-ever Chinese company to endorse the 56-year-old tournament.
In addition to Citic Capital's buy-in to Man. City, the recent shopping spree also saw several other clubs find Chinese owners: La Liga giants Atletico Madrid and Espanyol, Serie A powerhouse Inter Milan, Ligue 1 side Nice, and former Premier League club Aston Villa.
An executive with Chinese retail giant Suning, which acquired a majority stake in Inter in June, explained the reason for the splurge.
"The acquisition is part of Suning's strategy in the development of the Chinese sport industry, which is set to be the leading industry in the country in the next five years," said Zhang Jindong, chairman of Sunning Holding Group.
Investors have been equally generous back at home. Despite the lowly performance of the men's national team, which lingers at around 80 in the FIFA world rankings and is still awaiting a second entrance to the World Cup finals after 2002, they are optimistic there is a goldmine to be uncovered in China's domestic football market.
Clubs and their backers spent a whopping 25 billion yuan on the 2015/16 winter transfer market, turning the Chinese Super League (CSL) into the top-spending league in the world, ahead of the EPL.
The 2016-2020 television rights to the CSL were sold at a stunning 8 billion yuan to Beijing-based company Ti'ao Dongli.
The 2015 CSL registered record attendance as 5.33 million fans cheered their teams on live, while 410 million viewers watched the 30-round league on television.
"We estimate the Chinese football market to be worth 800 billion yuan if China's overall sport market is put at 2 trillion yuan," said Ti'ao Dongli general manager Zhao Jun. "That's why we consider the 8 billion yuan for the CSL TV rights a bargain."
What is happening in football is expected to provide valuable experience for other sports. Football was the first sport to be professionalized in China, in 1994, and now serves as a trailblazer.
Chinese Football Association chief Cai Zhenhua, whose organization became independent from the government earlier this year, said that China's sport "reform and development plan aims at football while its significance transcends it."
He explained, "Football is the undisputed first sport in the world. [In China], the sport is more market-oriented, better professionalized and the most popular. All of these factors make it the best experimental field for China's overall sport reform."
CHINA OLYMPIC DREAM: BEIJING 2022 AND THE GROWTH OF WINTER SPORTS
China's forward-looking approach to sport reform is also exemplified in its embrace of winter sports. The country's winning bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games means that Beijing will be the only city on Earth to have hosted both the winter and summer Olympic Games.
The 2022 Games will not solely be held in China's capital city though. Chongli County in Zhangjiakou will host the snow events, a nod that has provided a shot in the arm for a fledgling winter sports industry.
But China's increasing emphasis on winter sports is not only about profits, or glory on the world stage. It is, above all, about serving the Chinese people. That is the view of Liu Peng, director of China's General Administration of Sport. He has stressed that "the development of winter sports in China [can] improve public fitness and lifestyle."
One member of the public who has been inspired to get on the slopes is Cui Jing, who works in import-export. She has been skiing for nearly a decade. At first, she would only tackle medium-difficulty pistes. But since November, she has been braving and mastering black runs in resorts across north China, including Olympic venues in Zhangjiakou.
Cui expects winter sport to grow in China as the middle classes swell. "As the Chinese people become richer, more and more will take up skiing."
AWAY FROM "MEDAL FIRST"
During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wu Meiru would get up early and check the medals table every day.
With the Rio Olympic Games open, she said she is as ready as ever to cheer on her heroes. But this time around, she will be focusing on more than just the medal count.
"When I was little, I could recite the names of every Chinese champion from the 2004 Athens Olympics, but now who's winning is no longer that important, just as long as they try their best," she said.
There exists perhaps no better example of China's shift away from a "medals first" mentality than tennis star Peng Shuai. The former world doubles No.1 has fallen below the top 200 due to injuries.
Peng, a 2014 U.S. Open semifinalist, is still recovering from waist surgery. But she was included among five Chinese players in a slate of singles and doubles entries for Rio 2016 announced by the International Tennis Federation.
While Peng is still struggling to get back in shape, she takes her task in Rio with grace and sportsmanship. "I am really honored to represent the country in the Olympics. I don't know for sure if my form will have returned but I will try my best, even if the recovery is slow," she said.
SPORTS AS AN ENGINE FOR CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC REFORM
China's state-run sport system has been a huge success since the country returned to the Olympic Games in 1984, giving rise to many Olympic champions.
China's pride in its Olympic victories culminated in 2008 at the Beijing Games, when the host nation topped the medal tally with 51 golds.
While the system still functions to churn out champions in the Olympics and world championships, the balance of Chinese sport has started to tilt toward the masses.
"2008 was a landmark year as the Beijing Olympic Games gave people some new insight into sport," said Song Hongfei, of Wisdom Sports Group, a sport marketing company.
He said gold medals for big stars are great but that sport is also about the general public keeping healthy and having fun.
Song's company manages several marathons in China, where running has come into vogue. More than 1.5 million people took part in more than 130 distance running events in 2015.
Bodybuilding and other sports are also on the rise. If all goes as expected, the country will have 435 million people regularly taking part in sport by 2020.
A plan published by China's cabinet in late 2014 set a goal for the industry's annual economic output to top 5 trillion yuan by 2025.
The plan is off to a promising start. China's service sector, including sport, accounted for 56.9 percent of China's overall GDP growth of 6.7 percent in the first quarter of 2016.
China is striding towards its goal to become a "Xiao Kang" society. While this Chinese phrase translates to "well off" in English, "Kang" has the literal meaning of "good health."
This is a lesson Beijing school headmaster Zhao Caixia has been trying to impart to her students. Zhao was alarmed at the poor physical shape of her pupils when she took over Cui Village Primary School two years ago.
"Some students could not support themselves through a 20-minute flag raising ceremony," she said.
Luckily for Zhao, the government has begun encouraging more campus sport.
Mao Zhenming, a professor from Beijing Normal University who is also a member of the central leading group on football, became a coach to Zhao's students and entered them into small competitions.
Zhao also urged her 700 students to add outdoor time besides the mandatory one hour of physical exercise mandated by the government.
"Now their skin is tanned and they are getting stronger. None of them feel sick after outdoor activities in the sun," she said.
As more and more parents realize that sport will benefit their children for a lifetime, it is rising to a position of prominence alongside academic study.
Raising a sporty younger generation has pride of place in China's overall sport reform that seeks to, above all, put the people and their well-being first.
