China’s soccer diplomacy turns towards Germany

China’s sporting and political bosses were happy as the event lifted China’s profile in the game and slotted nicely into its multi-pronged drive to become a dominant force in the lucrative world of football business. But over the past year or so Beijing’s “football diplomacy” has tilted more towards Germany than England.
President Xi Jinping, who wants to build a domestic sports industry worth $850 billion by 2025 with football as its crown jewel, in July watched a football match between Chinese and German youth in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Afterwards there was much talk from both sides of how cooperation on the pitch would promote mutual understanding of cultures, peoples and challenges.
Under a five-year deal, German players, coaches and referees will provide assistance to their Chinese counterparts, and a Chinese-German Football Summit has been held in Frankfurt.
Bayern Munich, a global giant of the club game, has signed deals to jointly build football schools in China, while China’s Ministry of Education, the German Football Association and Adidas have held a joint youth camp in Germany. More and more German players are being signed to play in the Chinese Super League, which by some measures rivals the English Premier League as the world’s richest competition. 
In the boardroom, while German law prevents any single entity from taking a majority stake in a football club, Chinese investors are regularly reported to be talking to leading German teams about partial ownership stakes.
Away from Germany, there’s been no let-up in Beijing’s use of the universal game as a soft-power tool. In Africa, China continues to provide soft loans to fund the building of stadiums for African Cup of Nations’ tournaments. The pay-off is favoured access to valuable natural resources. In the Middle East, a Chinese company in May received oil and gas exploration rights in Abu Dhabi, after Chinese investors took a stake in the Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City football club, not long after President Xi toured the club’s facilities. 
Since 2015, Chinese groups and individuals are estimated to have spent more than $2 billion on European football clubs alone. The latest play came a couple of weeks ago when real estate magnate Jisheng Gao bought an 80 per cent stake in Southampton – ironically from its German owner. 
Thai investors too have been investing in overseas football clubs, but at more modest levels and with a focus on England. The same English League Cup that surfaced in Beijing is officially known as the Carabao Cup after the Thai maker of energy drinks secured a three-year sponsorship deal. A generation ago it was called the Milk Cup, an indication perhaps of just how frenetic the world of football business has become.
Frenetic, and demanding on the fans. While the draw a fortnight ago in Beijing may have given the tournament maximum exposure in the Chinese market, the timing prompted mixed reactions, to say the least, from English fans as it didn’t start until 4.37am UK time.
Suwatchai Songwanich is CEO Bangkok Bank (China).
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