Abstract
In October 2014, China issued the policy “Opinions for accelerating the development of the sports industry and promoting sports consumption”. Since then other public policy documents have been published to leverage the growth of the country’s sports industry by promoting the development of strategic sectors to meet a bold goal: by 2025 the sport industry generates $813 billion for the economy of the country. Two of these public policies are the “Medium and long-term football development plan (2016-2050)” and the “Action plan for the development of sports tourism ‘Belt and Road’ (2017-2020)”. These plans are also relevant for China’s diplomatic and trade relations. Both plans explicitly demonstrate their perception of sports as an instrument of public diplomacy and soft power. And this has already been seen in practice. For example, China Media Capital acquired a 13% stake of the City Football Group (CFG), owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, in 2015. CFG recently bought Chengdu’s Sichuan Jiuniu FC and just days before the acquisition Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways announced a new fleet of Boeing 787’s to service its routes into Chengdu. Another example is the football exhibitions tournaments held in China promoting integration among the countries in the BRI. This chapter, based on the literature review and the analysis of these public policy documents, seeks to identify how they contribute to the development of the Chinese sports industry, while serving as a public diplomacy and soft power tool and to what extent they are connected to the BRI.
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Notes
- 1.
The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence first appeared as an international agreement, that is, the Agreement between the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China on Trade and Intercourse between Tibet Region of China and India, concluded between China and India in Beijing in April 1954 (Zhengqing & Xiaoqin, 2015, p. 70). It was Premier Zhou Enlai who first connected the idea of “peaceful coexistence” with the Chinese diplomacy. In a statement in support of the recommendation for peace submitted to the United Nations General Assembly by Soviet Union, he pointed out the principles of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect for territorial sovereignty (p. 72). The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are: mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression; mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs; equality and cooperation for mutual benefit; and peaceful co-existence. The Five Principles are considered “the most important diplomatic name card of China in the contemporary world stage, the five principles play a significant role in promoting the peaceful development of China and shaping its image as a responsible power” (p. 67).
- 2.
The Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative operates under the National Development and Reform Commission and aims at providing BRI with guidance and coordination.
- 3.
FIFA World Rankings as of 14 June 2019.
- 4.
In 2017, the People’s Daily (人民日报) reported that China’s sporting authorities had altered the original goals of the football development plan. Instead of waiting until 2030 for 50,000 specialized football schools, the goal became to reach the mark by 2025 (People’s Daily, 2017).
- 5.
Acronym of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, countries whose economic growth gained global recognition as cooperative links established among them grounded their (re)positioning in the geopolitical global settings.
- 6.
Fosun Group will own a 51% stake in the Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Ningbo High-Speed Railway, which is to be built in Zhejiang Province. Four State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), including China Railway Corporation, the one operating in the UAE.
- 7.
For further reading please check Emanuel Leite Junior and Rodrigues (2019).
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Leite Junior, E., Rodrigues, C. (2020). Belt, Road and Ball: Football as a Chinese Soft Power and Public Diplomacy Tool. In: Leandro, F., Duarte, P. (eds) The Belt and Road Initiative. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2564-3_4
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