The Chinese Super League's (CSL) next phase of development has been laid out by the Chinese Football Association's leadership headed by President Chen Xuyuan.

In the last five years, the CSL has grown in stature and has attracted some of the biggest names in world football but now the CFA President Chen and the General Secretary Liu Yi are looking to develop more domestic talent and stronger links between clubs and communities.

Liu Yi said: "Investment in foreign players over the years has enabled CSL to gain worldwide exposure and provided the foundation for it to develop into Asia's leading league commercially.

"But this financial commitment is unsustainable and the focus moving forward with the new financial guidelines and regulations is to shift the focus to establishing stronger links with clubs, local communities and the importance of developing and promoting home grown talent that will also in the long term strengthen Chinese football on both domestic and international levels."

As hosts of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023, Chinese football will play an important role in the growth of football at home and in Asia in the coming years and the recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for developing a sustainable game in the country.

Liu Yi added: "During the post-pandemic era, China football is expected to play a proactive role, hand in hand with the AFC, to develop a safer and sustainable environment for the game both in China and Asia by sharing best practice and knowledge."

The AFC Asian Cup China 2023 will be staged in 10 cities - many with new or refurbished specialised stadiums and have a stated aim of more than 10 billion engagements with fans on the AFC and LOC digital platforms during the event which will be the biggest and best in history.

He said: "We're going to have about a dozen football specific stadiums built, in most of the key regions of China and with that investment into properly designed and sophisticated stadia is so important for Chinese football to enter the next stage of commercial exploration."

Liu and CFA President Chen acknowledge that a strong performance by the Chinese national team is required but to have an improvement in standards mean that China must develop young talent.

Central to this important next phase of the CFA's work on this is a new partnership with China's national education authority.

This will involve a large training programme for youth football coaches who will be dispatched to schools around the country. The education authority and the CFA will also organise competitions so that young players can compete on a regular basis.

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