CRI听力:Chinese Sports More Integrated with the World

China's football and basketball clubs had been busy signing a number of international star players in 2012.

At the same time, tennis and golf are starting to become more recognized, given that Chinese athletes are starting to thrive in those sports as well.

As such today's keywords are "Growing Chinese Sports".

CRI's Zhang Shuangfeng takes a closer look.

Didier Drogba, one of the world's best strikers, signed for Shanghai Shenhua in a contract worth 400-thousand Euros per week.

The 34-year-old has since been joined by former French international striker Nicolas Anelka at Shenhua.

Evergrande also recently signed Brazilian midfielder Elkeson de Oliveira Cardoso to a four-year deal.

The transfer fee topped 7.5-million US dollars.

Guizhou Renhe is set to sign Zvjezdan Misimovic, the co-captain of Bosnia and Herzegovina's national team.

He's moved to China for 1.5 million euros per year.

Despite the spate of high-profile signings, experts and sports fans are voicing concerns about the trend.

Former Shanghai midfielder Fan Yun is among those asking whether big-name signings are sustainable for the future of Chinese football.

"I feel more of the focus should still be on developing young talent. A mature football club must give emphasis on the overall development of their football teams. They cannot let their first team age and have no younger players to take over. This is something that a mature football club must think of. But in China, perhaps it is quite difficult for this to take effect."

China is currently 88th in the world rankings, far behind Asia's top three - Japan, South Korea and Australia.

At the same time, Basketball clubs have also been signing a lot of international stars.
Former NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady is now playing for the Qingdao Doublestars.

Former Washington Wizard Gilbert Arenas is with the Shanghai Sharks.

Former Minnesota Timberwolf Stephon Marbury led the Beijing Ducks to last season's championship.

Shanghai and Qingdao are among the teams at the bottom of the CBA standings this season.

And for many, it remains to be seen how much the former NBA'ers are helping.

But compared with basketball and football, tennis is becoming popular thanks to the rise of home-grown stars like Li Na and Peng Shuai.

Li Na made it to 2 Grand Slam finals in 2011, winning the French Open.

The victory makes Li Na the first Asian to win a grand slam tournament.

Her victory has inspired a large number of young fans, including the 11-year-old Chen Ruoyu, who plays tennis at a training school in Shanghai six days a week.

"Both my mom and dad play tennis. They brought me to the court when I was little. I love the feeling of running around and the sound of the ball hitting the racquet. It would be wonderful if I could become the next Li Na. But regardless, I have a lot of fun playing tennis. "

The Women's Tennis Association estimates that more than 130 million Chinese people are now taking up tennis racquets.

Here in China, three WTA and ATP events are being put on every year, including the Shanghai Masters and the China Open held in Beijing.

Tom McCarthy is the president of Beijing International Group, the official promoter of the China Tennis Association.

"Now we are trying to do things in terms of schools. We have two school program going on … We are trying to bring it to the real people, not the specialized people. It has to be a community spirit. It starts with the government, but its responsibility is for everybody."

Like tennis, golf is also becoming much more popular.

IN June, 22-year-old Feng Shanshan became the first Chinese player to win the LPGA Championship.　

The China Golf Association estimates there are around 358-thousand core players above the age of 18.

This number is said to be growing by 7.5-percent every year.

For CRI, I am Zhang Shuangfeng.