Sports inject fresh energy into China-France cooperation

Wang Shuang during the match in Lille, France, on Jan 13, 2019 (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

"The realization of a dream may come late, but will never be absent," wrote Chinese women's footballing star Wang Shuang on social media after signing with French club Paris Saint-Germain.

Wang Shuang is not just a sports star; she is an active participant on the front lines of China-France sports cooperation.

Despite being over 8,000 kilometers away from each other, China and France have enjoyed intensive cooperation in all fields since the establishment of their diplomatic ties 55 years ago, and it has been given more and more energy by sports in recent years.

CHASING FOOTBALL DREAM IN EUROPE

Since joining PSG last August, Wang has pleased Les Parisiens fans with her eye-catching skills and contribution in spearheading the team.

With a fast pace, swift moves, and creative pass, Wang has been seen as a figure in the women's side akin to Neymar or Kylian Mbappe in the PSG men's team.

"After playing so many years of football, I want to give myself a test at a higher platform, to see how far I'm lagging behind these European players, and if there is space for improvement," Wang explained.

Five days after arriving in the French capital in September, Wang enjoyed a dream debut by firing a spectacular shot outside the area past goalkeeper in the city derby against Paris FC.

Shortly afterwards, Wang harvested her first goal in the Champions League and registered a 17-second stunner. She steered her club to pose a great challenge for the French league title, also with a Champions League quarterfinal spot.

The open-minded and straightforward Wang is beloved by her teammates, and she is working hard to learn French and English for better communication with people around her, both on and off the pitch.

The capital club cannot ignore her commercial value, and the Asian best female player of Year 2018 has partnered with Mbappe and other prominent players for club advertisements.

But while she is indeed making an indelible contribution, footballing cooperation is not just resting on Wang's shoulder.

The French Professional Football League (LFP) and French Football Federation (FFF) co-founded their representative office in China in February 2017, the first federation to take such an initiative worldwide. A booming effect, in terms of followers, has since been underway on Chinese social platform for these two institutions.

"China is very unique. There is no country in the world where football is dealt with at such a high level of decision-making. Based on our studies: China never fails," the office of director Romuald Nguyen pointed out.

With an outstanding youth training system, France has warmly given guidance to Chinese football through education programs, and over 500 Chinese players and coaches have been tasting the flavor of French football either in France or China over the past two years.

More partnerships concerning coaches and players education, an interpreters program and an academy will be announced in the coming months.

WINTER OLYMPICS PAVING A NEW ROUTE

France has hosted the Winter Olympic Games three times in its southeastern Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, and indeed has something to offer to China, which will host the quadrennial winter sports event in 2022.

A bright future for winter sports industry cooperation with the world's most populous country is also being forseen by French corporations.

"The Chinese ski industry is a new and promising market, and France can partner in many ways with China," said Fabien Felli, vice president of the board in charge of sales and marketing in POMA, a world-leading cable car manufacturer.

POMA has been conducting its business in China for almost 35 years, with a minimum of 30 percent of its products aimed at the Chinese market.

"It's very important that we didn't wait for the Olympic Games to cooperate with China. I do believe that Winter Olympic Games will boost the ski development and tourism activities for cable cars in China. After the Olympic Games, we will still be a partner of the Chinese industry," Felli said.

During a visit by a Hebei Province delegation to the region last November, 12 agreements were reached between enterprises from the two countries, calling for a long-term partnership with the Winter Olympics as its platform.

French corporations also made the most of events like Alpitec China and the Winter Sports Expo to become more exposed to the Chinese market.

Mountain Cluster is an organization responsible for offering guidance to French companies in the region and discovering possible opportunities of cooperation with their Chinese counterparts.

Benoit Robert, director of Mountain Cluster, shed light on the importance of territorial partnerships.

"The Territory is our best ambassador, as it's the territory that hosts big ski resorts, and the benefits of ski resorts go to these territories. Therefore, we insist on territorial partnerships," he said.

Commencing their business in China 15 years ago, MND Group, one of European leading outdoor leisure activities corporations, has registered a rise from 2-3% a few years ago to 25% in its turnover, and China became its top market in term of size last year.

After signing a partnership agreement with Wanlong ski resort, positioned as its training center for Asian ski resorts, MND sent a group of European experts to conduct the first training session two weeks ago, teaching ski resort operational teams how to to manage water resources to produce snow.

"There is always space for improvement, especially such a ski market born only a few years ago and really booming," admitted Martin Francou, business development director of MND Group.

Earlier this year, Club Med partnered with world renowned French Ski School to open its first ski academy in China.

"I think it's a good start for training the ski instructors there," Francou observed.

TRADITIONAL SPORTS AS A POINT OF REFERENCE

Yuan Zumou has been promoting classic Chinese wrestling, or 'Shuai Jiao' in Chinese, in France for over three decades.

The 79-year-old arrived in France in 1985 at the age of 45. After getting his first source of income by washing dishes in his friend's restaurant, he decided to give his old profession a try.

"As I was involved in sports before, I didn't want to keep doing simple odd jobs," Yuan said.

He introduced Shuai Jiao to the French Wushu Federation. His promotion got off to a good start several months later at the National Wushu Championships.

The Paris Mayor Cup, an international tournament organized by Yuan, has been hosted 13 times since 1992, attracting athletes from several countries and regions.

"Shuai Jiao is like a gold mine, but many obstacles are to be expected on the way," Yuan said.

While the French got to know Chinese wrestling through Yuan, Savate, a French combat sport combining elements of English boxing with graceful kicking techniques, was introduced to China by Liu Xiaohong in 2010.

"It was not easy to promote Savate in China at first," recalled Liu, president of the Chinese Savate Federation. "We decided to promote it in China's universities and colleges, and form our team for international competitions. It has seen blossoming effect over nine years."

Liu added that currently almost 2,000 people benefit from Savate every year in each of 12 cities that have established the competition platform.

"We aim at spreading Savate training to 1,800 fitness gyms nationwide this year," Liu said.

China is a traditional powerhouse in table tennis, nabbing 28 of the 32 Olympic gold medals on offer since 1988.

As an effort to better internationalize the sport, the Chinese Table Tennis Association dispatched Han Hua, a veteran coach having mentored many world champions, to join the French team as head coach at the end of 2013.

"The French team has a glorious history, but experienced low ebbs for more than a decade since Jean-Philippe Gatien's retirement. There were not many talented youngsters standing out," recalled Han, who focused on balanced development of paddlers and strengthening their mentality.

Achievements began to follow less than two years later. France won the men's team silver medal at the inaugural European Games in 2015. Emmanuel Lebesson claimed the European Championships men's singles title for the first time in 40 years for France in 2016. That boosted the French Federation's desire to renew Han's contract for another Olympic cycle.

Han has led young paddlers to train with their Chinese counterparts during the winter almost every year since his arrival, which had an imminent effect in improving the results of the French paddlers.

Given that China and France will be the respective hosts of the 2022 Winter and 2024 Summer Olympics, strengthened sports ties between the two countries will continue to blossom in the coming years.

(By Sportswriters Su Bin, Zhang Han)