Qingdao and Munich team up for soccer partnership

Qingdao Sino-German Ecopark and FC Bayern Munich signed an agreement in Berlin to set up the first FC Bayern Munich soccer school in China.

The move was aimed at helping develop soccer at the popular and school levels, riding on increasingly strong interest in China's soccer industry.

The school, powered by Bayern Munich's youth soccer training system, will be built in the Ecopark, which will house football fields and facilities for training.

The deal will see a comprehensive football training system from Germany implanted into China.

Under the agreement, FC Bayern Munich, champions in German Bundesliga for the last four years and currently in first position, will send qualified coaches and trainers to China every year to help develop Chinese football managers and young players.

"Football is an important part of German culture. The Sino-German Ecopark plays a critical role in strengthening football culture collaborations of two nations. The partnership with FC Bayern Munich shows two countries can find opportunities to work together in the tide of football innovation and reform," said Wang Duo, CEO of Sino-German United Group, which manages the Ecopark.

China's ambassador to Germany, Shi Mingde, who witnessed the signing, said the partnership demonstrates great potential and broad prospects for both sides to cultivate football development as well as to promote a football economy in China.