The City Football Group (CFG) announced Friday the establishment of its new office in Longhua District.
The office, which is the group’s second in China, aims to further promote the development of grass-roots football in China and expand the fan base of its subsidiary football clubs.
Damien Willoughby, CFG’s senior vice president of global business, said CFG is delighted to be setting up its second Chinese office in Shenzhen.
“Shenzhen is a major city in China and an economic center in the Greater Bay Area. Our team in the area will not only play an important role in developing our fan base, but will also work to expand our grass-roots football program and business partnerships,” said Willoughby.
Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, was also invited to the press conference to witness the establishment of the new office. Burnham was on a business trip to China and met with the city’s mayor, Chen Rugui, on Thursday.
According to Burnham, CFG’s new office in Shenzhen represents a commitment by an international football organization to help promote the sport in China. “City Football Group’s ambition is in line with China’s expectations for football. I think it is a perfect cooperation,” said Burnham.
In September 2016, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, CFG launched an initiative to develop football on Chinese campuses. Over the past two years, the partnership has brought more than 40 British coaches to schools in 15 provinces and cities in China, delivering training courses to more than 400,000 teenagers and 3,000 teachers.
CFG has also signed a memorandum of cooperation with the city’s culture, sports and tourism bureau to jointly develop grass-roots football projects in the city.
CFG is a holding company that administers football clubs under the ownership of Abu Dhabi United Group and is partly owned by Chinese companies China Media Capital and CITIC Capital.
The company’s flagship club is Manchester City Football Club in the English Premier League, which has 12 official fan clubs in 12 Chinese cities with 45 million fans.
In March 2016, CFG set up its first Chinese office in Shanghai, becoming the first international football club to have set up an office on the Chinese mainland.