This Day, That Year: July 31

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On July 31, 1985, the first FIFA Under-16 World Championship kicked off in China. The tournament was held in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Dalian, Liaoning province, from July 31 to Aug 11, 1985.

An item from China Daily showed spectators in Beijing's Workers' Stadium cheering on both the Nigerian and West German soccer players during the game.

Chinese fans' passion for the game is unquestioned, although the country has only qualified once for the World Cup Finals, the 2002 tournament.

The men's team has struggled, while the women's side won the Asian Cup in 1997 and finished second in the World Cup in 1999.

In 1998 Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai signed for Crystal Palace. They were the first Chinese players to sign for a foreign soccer club. Li Tie moved to Everton in 2003.

There are now more than 120 Chinese players at foreign clubs.

The Chinese connection to European soccer has intensified markedly in recent years with investment in Atletico Madrid and Espanyol in La Liga, Den Haag in the Dutch league, Sochaux in France, and Manchester City in the United Kingdom.

In 2016, the central government announced plans designed to encourage the development of the sport at the grassroots level, with the aim of establishing China as the dominant national team in Asia by 2030, and a world-leading soccer power 20 years later.

The strategy includes plans to create a three-tier amateur competition that involves clubs in 100 cities and more than 50 million players, and the development of 70,000 new pitches across the country.

In June, China was confirmed as the host of the AFC Asian Cup 2023.