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Feature: Engaging China -- A success story of an Aussie football club

Xinhua, March 31, 2017 Adjust font size:

It is hard to believe that an Australian rules football match will be staged in Shanghai, China, where table tennis and badminton are most popular.

Thanks to the effort in the past three years by an Australian Football League (AFL) club, this unique Aussie sport has made its way to the most populous country in the world and this club has been regarded as a successful business pioneer in cultivating the Chinese market.

Port Adelaide Football Club will host an AFL premiership points match against the Gold Coast Suns in Shanghai on May 14.

INVESTMENT IN TAPPING CHINESE MARKET BEARS FRUIT

Andrew Hunter, the club's China and Government Relations general manager, is absolutely sure that the tickets for the Shanghai match would be sold out upon opening for sale.

His confidence comes from the investment the club made in China in the past few years when the promotion of Australian football began thanks to one person. Chen Shaoliang, dubbed the first Chinese playing Australian football, has been playing an important role in this.

Selected by AFL to experience the sport in Australia in 2012, Chen, then a sports university student, began to practice the game when he was back in Guangzhou and then organized a local club.

In 2015, graduating from college, Chen was handed an olive branch by Port Adelaide club with an AFL fellowship. He first studied sports club management and then was recruited by the club to play in its second-tier team for the state-level league.

Chen was part of the investment Port Adelaide club has made in China. As club CEO Keith Thomas put it, the already robust trade relationship between the two countries made it all very natural for the club to delve into the Chinese market.

"We already had a great trading relationship between South Australia and China, and Australia and China. Why wouldn't we actually take our sport, our club to China and try and build relationship that way?"

"We knew that the wrong approach for us to take would be to go in and just seek sponsorship money, basically go and take money from China. We don't want to do that. We want to build meaningful relationship. So we took the approach that we will go and invest," said Thomas during an interview with Xinhua.

Port Adelaide club's ambitious China Engagement Strategy quickly attracted attention from both the Chinese and Australian business circle. Renault, the French automobile maker, increased its sponsorship to the club to become one of the four top sponsors. Hunter said that Renault's decision was greatly related to the club's more exposure in China.

Shanghai CRED Real Estate and Ausgold Mining, two Australian companies run by ethnic Chinese, have partnered with the club, valuing the role of the popular sport in Australian national life.

A BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES

"It's like a bridge we are building between the two countries. With sports as the thing that enables us to have those relationship, we think it's a fantastic vehicle or bridge that's built between us. It's another layer of the relationship that already exists," Thomas said.

A survey of Port Adelaides supporters showed that every one of the club's fans had heard about the club's work in China and 60 percent said it made them more interested in China.

About 98 percent knew about the upcoming match in Shanghai and 30 percent were thinking about attending. Also, 60 percent of the respondents said that the match in China made them more interested in travelling there in the future.

More than half of the respondents said the club's involvement in China increased their understanding of China and the Australia-China relationship. Some 97 percent said they thought a positive Australia-China relationship was good for Australia.

Thomas said that the symbolism of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang embracing Australia's game by going to the scene is hugely significant. During his visit to Australia, Li watched an exciting Australian football game with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull.

"It will certainly bring more attention to our game. I'm not sure that Port Adelaide is so important but again it's a statement about Australia and China and our relationship. And the fact that we are using Australia's favorite game as a chance to come together is a really significant statement from our point of view." Endi