China to host University World Cup

China's dream of hosting the FIFA World Cup has received a boost with the news that the country has secured the rights to stage its amateur equivalent.

Under a partnership with the International University Sports Federation (FISU), Jinjiang city in East China's Fujian province will host the biennial University World Cup for four consecutive editions between 2019 and 2025 in an effort to boost participation and business around soccer, it was announced on Friday.

"We are very excited to be part of the football story in China. China has a very realistic ambition to host the FIFA World Cup in the future and hosting the FISU edition is a logical step to realize that," said FISU president Oleg Matytsin.

Jinjiang, the base of several Chinese sportswear companies, has begun preparatory work for the inaugural tournament, which will be staged in October 2019 at four stadiums, including two new ones, and three training venues.

The construction of the new venues will start later this year while the refurbishment of other facilities is already underway.

"To host the FISU World Cup is the city's response to the national strategy to develop the sports industry and to foster soccer culture," said Yang Xianjin, vice-governor of Fujian.

The University World Cup is a new tournament initiated by the FISU last year as an exclusive soccer gala for college students worldwide.

The preliminary qualification stage will be organized by 170 FISU member nations and regions and will be held in five continents, with 16 men's and eight women's teams going through to the final round.

A Chinese domestic qualification tournament will be held in August to select varsity squads to represent the country in an Asian qualification round between Oct 29 and Nov 11.

China has been actively promoting collegiate sports as an integral part of an all-around education. The country has hosted the summer edition of Universiade, the FISU's multisport counterpart to the Olympics, twice on its mainland (in Beijing in 2001 and Shenzhen in 2011) and the winter edition once in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, in 2009.