CHINA:

Ambitious plan for investments in sports

   May 19, 2016

   The government in Beijing has announced recently one of the most ambitious development projects of China. It is an investment worth nearly US$ 460 billion over the next five years for the development of sports. According to the plan, one of the sport sectors that will benefit of most of the investments, and from where are expected, in the same time, very good results, is the football.

   The Chinese sports in general and football in particular can attract many foreign investors, which will contribute to the implementation of the plans of officials in Beijing. Thus, the project drafted by the Chinese government provides a growth of the number of football fields up to 7000 throughout China, in order to allow that many people to play the king of sports. Also, the authorities have set a target number of 50 million people who should play football at different levels of performance over the next five years.

   Even more ambitious is the goal of the Chinese officials concerning professional football. China wants to enter the elite club of world football and to hold the title of top-class football nation by 2050.

   The plan says that, in the next four years, in China will exist 20 000 football schools and that the national soccer teams, men and women alike, must obtain great results at the world championships, the Asian Cup and the Olympic Games. Other team sports – basketball and volleyball – have the target to achieve outstanding performances at global level, too.

   The authorities in Beijing are interested in the overall health status of the population, not just of the high performance athletes, so they want to build up to 15 000 new fitness centers in all regions of China, as well as 10 000 multifunction playgrounds in the big cities, the aim being that each Chinese citizen to have at least 1.8 square meters of land for sport activities.

   An important signal is given by the Chinese billionaires, who are in their turn increasingly interested in investing in sports, especially in football, whether in domestic clubs or the European ones. China's new billionaires want to contribute to the plan of the authorities to propel the sports from the national level into the top rankings at global level, thus contributing with a significant percentage to the country’s GDP.

   While domestic investors are not pursuing an immediate profit from their involvement in sports, it must be said that foreigners eager to engage in this development project of the sporting facilities in China should also expect to have their return on investment over a slightly longer period. And that’s because the revenues from advertising or ticket sales at sports competitions are not as high in China as in other countries with a strong tradition in the field. According to a consulting agency, in 2011, the total revenue from ticket sales, sports commercial products and advertising from sports competitions in China reached only US$ 3.4 billion, while the amount in the United States was US$ 63.6 billion in the same year. Nevertheless, the foreign companies are exploring other ways to make money from sports in China, such as sports tourism or sports betting.

   welinkbusiness: The authorities in Beijing supports the foreign businessmen to invest in the development of Chinese sports, in order to benefit from the special experience of other states, primarily from Europe. The Chinese government encourages foreign capital investments in this true "sports industry", including for the building of gyms, stadiums, fitness centers, or for the provision of products and equipment necessary for the development of sport activities at all levels.

   (S.N.)

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References:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/where-s-the-passion-china-soccer-boom-missing-key-ingredient-1.2902996