Investing in European clubs does little to improve soccer in China

A security guard keeps watch before a news conference with Chinese retailer Suning and Italy's Inter Milan in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, June 6, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

CHINESE RETAIL GIANT SUNING COMMERCE GROUP acquired a 70 percent stake in the Italian soccer club Inter Milan for €270 million ($299 million) in June. However, such investments are business deals and they will do little to help improve Chinese soccer, said Guangzhou Daily on Tuesday:

According to official data, Chinese enterprises have invested about 40 billion yuan ($6 billion) in soccer clubs overseas, and now control eight of them.

The wave of Chinese capital investing in soccer clubs overseas has much to do with State policy that favors the move, and the country's industrial overcapacity which has prompted domestic enterprises to look to invest in other sectors.

However, at present, Chinese enterprises obtain nothing but some brand effects from such investments. They still need to rely on European professional management teams to run the clubs.

Of course, some domestic enterprises also hope to gain some experience from the local management teams, but this will be a long process.

Some are also talking about whether the investments will help domestic soccer by introducing the European clubs youth systems into China. But Chinese soccer has too many problems and merely introducing a youth system will hardly help. Domestic soccer clubs are more interested in recruiting established players from Europe, instead of developing their own young players.

Therefore, let's be realistic. The wave of Chinese enterprises purchasing European soccer clubs is for economic reasons and has hardly anything to do with domestic soccer.