Chinese government investing in "football cities"

China has unveiled plans to "build between 16 and 18 'football cities' in the next five years as the country makes yet another attempt to break into the sport’s global elite." The Chinese FA will provide an annual 5-10M yuan (about $780,000-1.5M) per city, which will be "matched by an annual investment from the local government" of 30M yuan ($4.7M) to "build football cities across the country." By '25, a football city "should have two professional football clubs, one national-level youth training centre, several local-level training centres, and one football field for every 10,000 residents." By '30, the new football cities "should be 'continuously' feeding top athletes to the national team." China President Xi Jinping has "expressed hope that the country can play the World Cup in the not-too-distant future" (LONDON TIMES, 6/1).