China is pushing forward with fulfilling President Xi Jinping's ambition to turn the country into a soccer superpower in spite of the challenges.
Xi's Dream
Xi is a well-known fan of soccer, meeting with popular players like David Beckham during his international trips. In 2015, he announced his goal of making China a soccer super power.
His administration has been fast-tracking on the goal in the last two years, Nikkei Asia reported. In March 2015, the government announced plans to hire 120 foreign coaches to train around 50,000 teachers for deployment in soccer schools.
It has also promised to introduce reforms and reorganize the country's professional soccer scene to help facilitate the training of top caliber players. To do that, Xi's government reportedly plans to establish thousands of soccer fields across the country, as well as add new training programs to schools.
The president's ambition has also seemingly influenced the professional soccer clubs in the China Super League to bolster their efforts to snag top foreign players from the transfer pool.
For instance, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua reportedly paid a staggering $80 million to get their hands on Argentine Carlos Tevez.
Meanwhile, rival Shanghai SIPG is said to have shelled out $62.9 million to acquire Brazilian Oscar.
Chinese companies and entrepreneurs have also bought into English League teams. Some of such purchases include Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion.
Challenges
However, the government also cautioned against lavish spending on acquisitions. The State General Administration said that it will push to regulate and restrain such high-priced signups.
The office also said that they are considering the introduction of caps on transfer fees and salaries for high-value players, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, there has also been some resistance against the increased emphasis on the introduction of soccer to students. Parents expressed worry that this may take their kids' time away from academics.
According to soccer commentator Zhang Lu, the country also lacks a suitable training program to achieve the goal of training high-level players. But some schools are already making good progress, he said.