China

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that China, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea have all expressed an interest in hosting the 2023 edition of its showpiece Asian Cup national team tournament.

Authorities in China have unveiled a new strategy to establish the country as one of the world’s strongest footballing nations by 2050.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has secured its latest investment in sport by reaching a 10-year deal media rights and development deal with World Rugby, the global governing body of rugby union.

The Alisports arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has entered into a partnership with the CSM Sport & Entertainment division of marketing services group Chime Communications to develop and run a range of global sport properties and mass participation events across China.

Singapore-based social networking company YuuZoo has signed an agreement with Chinese conglomerate Alibaba to launch and operate e-sports competitions in China.

The National Basketball Association has said it will mark the 10th edition of its NBA Global Games China series by staging two preseason games in the country later this year.

Fina, the global governing body of aquatic sports, has underlined its “particularly robust approach” to anti-doping procedures in relation to Russia after allegations emerged of systemic doping in the country.

American football league the NFL is exploring the possibility of staging a regular-season game in China as early as 2018 and Germany in 2017, according to multiple reports.

Chinese conglomerate the Wanda Group has said its top-tier commercial partnership with world football’s governing body Fifa will leave it “better placed” to help decide where future editions of major events such as the World Cup take place.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has today (Friday) insisted that the country must host a winter Olympics that is as “clean as the snow” in 2022.

Chinese investment in sport has accelerated over the past year. Sportbusiness International looks at the reasons behind this growing trend.

The International Federation of Poker’s (IFP) Match Poker form of the game has been handed a major boost in China through a new partnership between the Alibaba Sports division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and the Oceans Sports & Entertainment agency.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has formally separated from the control of the country’s government in a bid to give the national governing body of the sport more independence.

Co-host of the 2022 winter Olympics, Zhangjiakou, has outlined plans to develop a sports hub ahead of the staging of the Games in China.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has said it is investigating allegations of a Chinese state-sponsored doping regime in the sport during the 1990s.

The inaugural edition of the World Roller Games will now take place in the Chinese city of Nanjing in 2017 after Barcelona in Spain withdrew its hosting rights.