Despite a move to curb "irrational spending," China "outstripped" the Premier League's winter spending for the second year in a row, according to Matt Cotton of the LONDON TIMES. Chinese Super League clubs spent €388M ($412M), "which included Oscar moving from Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG" for £51M ($63M) and Carlos Tevez becoming the "world’s best-paid player," earning £615,000 ($763,153) a week when joining Shanghai Shenhua. China is now "comfortably outstripping footballing superpowers" such as France and European champion Portugal, in spite of only spending a third of the Premier League’s £1.1B ($1.4B) in '16. The "enormous outlay comes despite an official crackdown on spending from the Chinese authorities" (LONDON TIMES, 2/28). The AFP reported the new curbs did not "dry up spending completely." Mailman Group Senior Client Manager Tom Elsden said, "We're still going to see high levels of spending even with the change in regulations, and this will continue. China is and will pull big names, purely because of the salary on offer" (AFP, 2/28).
FOLLOW THE RULES: REUTERS' Elias Glenn reported the Chinese Sports Ministry said that private Chinese investors are "welcome to help develop the sports industry but must follow the country's rules on moving capital overseas." Companies from China have "spent heavily on foreign clubs in recent years" as President Xi Jinping called for it to develop a "world-class" football industry. But while it said that it supports its companies expanding overseas, Beijing has "also been cracking down" on anything it views as "illegitimate" capital outflows. High outflows "were a contributory factor behind last year's depreciation of the yuan currency" to an eight-and-a-half-year low against the dollar (REUTERS, 2/27).
OVERSEAS PUSH: In London, Don Weinland reported for more than a decade, the Chinese government "pushed its companies to go abroad and buy up foreign assets," from football teams in Europe to "some of the largest chemical manufacturers in the world." But China’s "massive dollar reserves, long a critical tool for propping up" the value of the yuan as companies sought dollars, have fallen below $3T "for the first time in six years." Wanda, controlled by Wang Jianlin, "one of China’s richest men," has "deep connections to the country’s top leadership but bankers familiar with the company said it was not surprising to find the group running into problems." One banker said, "Even [state-owned enterprises] are getting stuck. Wanda's problems are normal now" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/27).
