Chinese 'invade' European football

Chinese billionaires have started invading European football by making purchasing deals with top clubs, looking to gain influence in the "beautiful game" and help China raise its standard.

Within one month before China's central reform group, captained by Chinese President Xi Jinping, approved a plan to revive the game on Friday, Chinese had sealed the deal with clubs in Spain, the Netherlands and France.

Wang Jianlin, the owner of Dalian Wanda Group, announced on Jan. 21 that he had bought a 20 percent stake of Spanish champion Atletico de Madrid with 52 million U.S. dollars.

Two days later, China's United Vansen International Sports Corporation made it public that they had almost finished the purchase of Dutch club Alles Door Oefening Den Haag.

Early in February, Dalian Wanda made a second daring move in three weeks by acquiring Swiss sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media in a deal valued at about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars.

Then came the news of a Hong Kong listed electrical components manufacturer, Tech Pro Technology Development company, in the middle of negotiation to buy French club Sochaux from the Peugeot car company.

"I believe those investments in sports industry and European football clubs are related to the deepening reform of football and sports in China," said Lu Hao, chairman of D & F Capital Management Co. LTD.

"Cultural and sports industry is able to play a very important role in the economic transformation of China and the government has given various signals to encourage the development of sports industry since last year.

"I believe more Chinese companies will invest in football clubs and sports in China and abroad."

According to Xue Lei, a professor from the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University, club-purchasing deals were more for the sake of investment than football.

"The flow of Chinese capital has gone through great change recently, and the European football clubs seem to be a very good subject to the investors," he said.

Wang Jianlin appeared to be the most ambitious among the investors enticed by the riches and glamour of European football. Following the deals with Atletico de Madrid and Infront, they were reported to be flirting with Italian powerhouse AC Milan.

Wanda, founded in 1988 and known for its real estate success, has started to shift its focus to service, entertainment and tourism while sport is going to weigh in Wanda's transformation.

Wanda had owned China's top professional team Dalian Wanda but sold the club in 2000 over disillusionment with a league rife with corruption and scandals.

"Taking into consideration of Wanda's transformation, their recent investments were not surprising," said Lu Hao.

"Wang Jianlin had a successful experience with football club and he is able to smell changes in Chinese economy and understands the importance of sports industry."

Wang also admitted that the purchase of Infront might help China's potential bid for the World Cup.

Infront's "rich and valuable resources" in football might help China eventually realize the dreams of "qualifying for a World Cup again, hosting a Worl

d Cup and winning a World Cup", said Wang.
The Chinese government has shown determination and confidence in a revival of football, a sport that has been embarrassing the nation with poor results and scandals.

"We must develop and revitalize football to ensure we are a strong nation of sports," vowed the statement which was issued after a meeting of the central reform leading group on Friday.