MADRID, 31 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received this Friday, during his state visit to China, LaLiga at a work meeting in Beijing together with fifteen of the most important Spanish companies in the region.
At the meeting, which was attended by the Spanish ambassador to China, Rafael Dezcallar de Mazarredo, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, Sergi Torrents, director of the LaLiga office in China since It was opened in 2014, it was the employer’s representative.
In these nine years with a permanent presence in the region, LaLiga has become a key figure in relations between China and Spain. In fact, LaLiga is a founding member of the Spain-China Business Advisory Council, which was established in 2018 with the aim of being a first-rate platform available to both governments to strengthen bilateral economic and commercial relations, made up of the most relevant companies from both countries.
“The role of LaLiga in this meeting is nothing more than a demonstration of the good work that LaLiga has been doing for almost a decade in the country, being a reference in China within the sports industry, a promoter of the development of local football and a perfect ambassador of the Spain brand”, explained Sergi Torrents.
Within its internationalization strategy, LaLiga opened its office in China in 2014, initially based in Beijing, although in 2016-17 it would open a new office in Shanghai, thus being one of the first international offices among the eleven it has in news all over the world.
During that time in China, LaLiga has signed agreements with the Chinese Ministry of Education, the Government of Kunming, the Chinese Football Association and the Chinese Super League to, among other things, promote the development of grassroots football and the professionalization of the league. national.
In addition, SFCM has been founded, a ‘joint venture’ with Mediapro for the marketing of sponsorships and licences. The first LaLiga fan club was created, and the LaLiga Hope Cup, with youth teams from LaLiga and the Chinese Super League.
In these nine years, the first face-to-face international tournament of eLaLiga was also launched in China, and the mini-program on Alipay, thus becoming the first soccer league with an application on the popular Chinese platform. On the other hand, 33 LaLiga clubs already have social networks in Chinese, in addition to the five official profiles of LaLiga itself, which connect with close to 9 million followers: Weibo, WeChat, Toutiao, Douyin and Bilibili.