Xi Jinping, a lifelong soccer fan, hoped to marshal China’s collective spirit behind “the beautiful game.” In reality, he welcomed a fleet of vultures to feast on it.
President Xi Jinping and Chancellor Angela Merkel watch German and Chinese children playing soccer in a 2017 visit to Berlin. Credit: Ronald Wittek - Pool/Getty Images
In October of 2015, Chinese media announced Xi Jinping’s first selfie. China’s leader looked uncharacteristically jolly posing alongside the soccer star Sergio Aguero and then-British Prime Minister David Cameron, with Aguero snapping the trio’s photo. It quickly went viral. Argentine striker Aguero became an overnight sensation and his team, Manchester City, scooped up a sizable Chinese fanbase.
“Every person in the world asks me about the selfie,” Aguero later said.
Xi was in the UK for a state visit. But on his final day, he made time to enjoy a Manchester City training session. A lifelong soccer fan, Xi soaked up the atmosphere at the English Premier League club. But it was more than simple fun. Just eight months earlier, Xi had launched his “Overall Plan for Chinese Football Reform and Development” — a pledge to transform the game’s development in China, from top to bottom.
Its goals were manifold. Healthcare costs were skyrocketing, and Chin
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
Brands have long relied on social auditing companies to monitor their supply chains in China. But between the industry’s own flaws and a changing political environment in China, many say these reports aren't reliable. With the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act now going into effect, this lack of trust in the industry leaves many global companies — and those hoping to hold them accountable — in a tricky spot.
A key figure in the Trump administration, the former reporter and Marine talks about the reality of the Chinese Communist Party's ambitions, the value of concrete actions vs. rhetoric, how Xi was flummoxed by Trump,...
