China, backed by its richest man, has struck a deal with FIFA to host the first China Cup from next year, a competition that will pit its national side against three international "first-class" teams - and hopefully pave the way to football glory.
Chinese property tycoon Wang Jianlin, whose Dalian Wanda conglomerate is already a high-level FIFA sponsor, said on Wednesday that his group and the Chinese Football Association would host the contest in the southern city of Nanning: four games played over a week every January.
European clubs often have a break around that time, potentially allowing national sides to pit their best - as China hopes. Eventually, it wants a total of eight teams to play.
"We aim to become the best football competition in Asia," Wang told reporters in Beijing. "We will use all possible measures to ensure we achieve this."
China would qualify automatically for a contest that does allow them to earn points for global rankings - an opportunity for a country that wants to climb the FIFA table where it is currently languishing at 81, below Equatorial Guinea and Haiti. China is preparing to compete for a spot in the 2018 World Cup.
Football in China has been...
