New fund set up to develop youth soccer

BEIJING - China continues to show its determination to develop youth soccer as more financial and public support comes to the aid of the game's future.

The latest initiative has come from the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, which on Monday officially set up the Youth Soccer Development Fund in Beijing and will collect millions of yuan every year to support its Soong Ching Ling Soccer Academies in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Yanbian, Jilin province.

China's soccer chief, Wei Di, has welcomed the financial support and said the Chinese Football Association (CFA) will continue its work to nurture the sport among the younger generation and that youth soccer was the organization's No 1 priority.