CRI听力:Chinese investors eye European football market

Members of the new board of Inter Milan club at the press briefing on June 28, 2016, in Milan, Italy. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

The past few weeks has seen a string of Chinese companies purchase stakes in European football clubs, extending a trend which began in 2014.

Fourteen different deals over the past 2-years have seen Chinese companies and business owners spend over a billion US dollars on football clubs abroad.

While these sports teams can sometimes be lucrative, the rush by Chinese investors toward football has raised a number of questions as to the underlying philosophy behind the moves, and what connection it may have to a broader-based Chinese government attempt to promote the sports industry in China.

For more on this, we're joined on the line by Mike Bastin, Director of China Business Center at Southampton Solent University.

Talking points

1. Which party benefits most from such investments, Chinese firms, the European clubs themselves, or maybe even the Chinese football industry?

2. Fosun's acquisition of Wolves as well as Recon Group's purchase of Aston Villa both came days after the UK Referendum on EU membership in June, so did the Brexit decision make such opportunities for Chinese companies to cash in on UK's lucrative football industry more worthwhile?

3. Taking Wanda's deal in Spain as an example, does it suggest that Chinese investors will find less resistance in sectors like sports, instead of for example, real estate?