Chinese people often ask why a global economic and sports powerhouse has singularly failed at playing the global game. One poor FIFA World Cup appearance in 2002 aside, China has made no perceptible impact on the world's most favorite sport. Beset by corruption and poor management, Chinese football has continuously provided laughing stock.
Things must be changed and have started to change, indeed.
The turning point came in 2010 when China's State Council, for the first time, issued a Guiding Opinion designed to boost the development of the sports industry and to elevate it to an unprecedented strategic position.
The Guiding Opinion pointed out that private investment in China's sports industry is actively encouraged, and market exploration of sports performance and recreational sports should be put into action to a greater extent.
However, the timely rain was just a guide without specific and practical details.
The breakthrough point came in 2014.
AMBITIOUS PLAN
China mapped out the plan of speeding up its sports industry on Oct. 20, 2014 when the State Council announced a guideline, named Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption.
According to the guideline which set the year 2025 as the deadline, the value of the overall scale of the sports industry is expected to reach 5 trillion yuan (about 800 billion dollars), the average sports venue area per person will reach 2 square meters, the number of people who regularly participate in sports activities will reach 500 million, and the coverage of new neighborhoods with sports facilities will reach 100 percent.
In a bid to encourage social investment, the guideline said that the government-identified high-tech sports companies will have their corporate income tax reduced from 25 percent to 15 percent and that the identified companies engaging cultural and sports activities will have their operation tax reduced to 3 percent.
Analysts said that the ambitious plan, based on the current conditions, is not a castle in the sky.
THREE ADVANTAGES
First, from the year 2008, the average GDP per capita for Chinese people had reached beyond 3,000 dollars, and the figure in 2014 was around 6,700 dollars, which indicated that people are capable of spending more money on sports.
Second, China's 1.4 billion population is also a strength.
Third, the attention and support from the central government is also a key factor. The government has broken down the industrial and policy barriers, such as axing administrative approval procedures and opening to the public all fields that are compliant with existing laws and regulations. It also welcomes private and foreign capital investment in the sports industry.
BIG CAKE
Football ranks first among all sports internationally, making up more than 40 percent of profits in the entire sports industry. In a sense, if the football market keeps blighted, China can hardly fulfil its dream of prospering the sports industry.
Since the ambitious plan issued by the State Council in 2014, Chinese billionaires responded with quick actions and their hands were put firstly to football.
Ma Yun, the owner of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, paid 1.2 billion yuan (about 192 million dollars) for 50 percent stake in Guangzhou Evergrande, the five-time Chinese Super League champion and two-time AFC Champions League winner.
Alibaba, the Nasdaq-listed company which have business cooperations with German champions Bayern Munich, Spanish giants Real Madrid and NBA star Kobe Bryant, also launched its own sports company in September. Two other Chinese internet giants LeTV and Tencent have established respective sports companies as well.
Wang Jianlin, owner of China's leading conglomerate Dalian Wanda, even flexed his might in international football. In January, Wanda paid 25 million euros for 20 percent stake in Spanish champion Atletico Madrid. In February, Wanda acquired Swiss sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media in a deal valued at about 1.2 billion dollars.
