China will include a football training session in the overall student appraisal system, the Ministry of Education announced on Thursday.
The ministry is going to increase the amount of football training in primary and secondary school PE classes, and is looking into establishing tournaments in primary, junior and high schools as well as colleges.
Football practice will be factored in when forming a comprehensive quality assessment of students, and all schools are asked to keep a record on students' football skills.
The ministry also encourages colleges to boost the number of campus football teams. Enrollment policies will be relaxed to make it easier for them to recruit talented footballers, the ministry said.
The country has so far established more than 5,000 schools specialized in football, with a total of 100,000 football matches held annually.
Chinese authorities have set a long-term goal to increase the number of schools and colleges that have specialist football training facilities to 50,000 by 2025.
The ministry also plans to establish 200 high-level university football teams across the nation, and train as many as 50,000 campus football coaches during the same period.
