The opening of an international office in Beijing builds on the Premier League’s longstanding work to promote football in the region, as was underlined by a recent visit to English academies by Chinese coaches.
In September, eight coaches from the Chinese FA (CFA), two who had played for China national men’s team and six who had represented the women’s, came over to England to learn from Premier League Academies about player development.
After a meeting at the Premier League offices in London, the coaches were split into two groups, one visiting Fulham for a fortnight, and one going to Brighton & Hove Albion, before they rejoined at Manchester United.
As well as observing training sessions, the CFA coaches, who are all earning their Asian Football Confederation coaching qualifications, watched Premier League, Academy and women’s matches, met Premier League Hall of Fame inductee Michael Owen, and took part in meetings with club coaches.
Zhang Chao, the Senior Manager of the Technical Department of the Chinese FA, explained: “We have just launched our elite coaching programme this year, so we selected a certain group of coaches who have national team experiences, and who have great potential for the future.”
Head of Coaching at the Premier League Sean Reed believes the Chinese coaches' experiences will allow them to thrive. "One of the things that we are trying to do is to try and draw reference to how we work with coaches in the English Professional Game," he said.
“We want to shape their experience based on our key learning principles - making sure its role-relevant, it’s co-created so that through the needs and wants analysis we can start to identify what are their needs and what are their wants.
“It can create an immersive experience to be exposed to the various environments and to speak to the different coaches. We want to try and stretch them and put them into a position where they are challenged. Hopefully they are going to create some new thinking which will help move them forward as coaches in their own environment.”
Gao Qi was one of the visiting coaches and said the experience will always stay with her.
“Since I have come here I have cherished every memory," she said. "I have especially enjoyed seeing the coaches’ commitment to their work.”
The League’s commitment to supporting the development of football in China at elite and grassroots levels was further underpinned this week by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with the Chinese FA.
This will see the two organisations collaborate on the delivery of programmes and activities to support the elite development of players, coaches and match officials, as well as training for grassroots coaches and referees.
Other activities will include a youth tournament and grassroots development courses.