Chinese Vice President HE Xi Jinping Gets A Taste Of Australia Football
The Premier, John Brumby, tonight met with the Vice President of China, HE Xi Jinping during his visit to Victoria and took him to Etihad Stadium to enjoy the AFL match between Carlton and Fremantle.
The meeting between the Premier and the Vice President follows the Premier’s trip to China last month where he visited the Jiangwan Sports Centre in Shanghai – the venue for the first ever match of AFL to be played in China, the Kaspersky Cup – AFL Shanghai Showdown in October.
Mr Brumby said the Kaspersky Cup, to be contested by Melbourne and Brisbane, provided an ideal platform to promote Australia’s unique national game to the world’s most populous nation.
“The Victorian Government is proud to be supporting the AFL’s efforts to promote Australian Football to China,” Mr Brumby said.
“The Jiangwan Sports Centre is Shanghai’s premier sporting and major events venue with seating for 15,000 spectators and it’s hoped the game will be broadcast to an estimated television audience of more than 100 million people.
“Crucially, this game comes at a time where the world’s and China’s attention is focused on Shanghai for the Shanghai World Expo 2010, providing a marvellous opportunity to further strengthen cultural and sporting links between Victoria and China.”
Visiting the Jiangwan Sports Centre in May, Mr Brumby was joined by hundreds of Chinese school students who are taking part in an ongoing AFL development program to teach young people the skills of the game.
Last year, China’s first domestic Australian Football competition was established in Beijing, and in March this year the second kicked off in Shanghai, with matches between the Shanghai Tigers, North Shanghai Crows, West Shanghai Dockers and Shanghai Eagles.
There are also plans to start senior football at the Shanghai Sports University and for China to field a team in the 2011 AFL International Cup.
Mr Brumby said the growth of Australian Football from a Victorian game to a truly national sport with followers all over the world paralleled Victoria’s rise to become the world’s leading city for sports and major events.
“In addition to world class capabilities in innovation, industry and trade, Victoria is renowned as one of the world’s leading sporting centres and we look forward to building on these strengths in partnership with our friends in China,” he said.
Mr Brumby said he was delighted to take Vice President Xi Jinping to an AFL match during his visit to Victoria.
“Like many of Victoria’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities, the Chinese community has made an invaluable contribution to all aspects of Victoria’s way of life,” he said.
“Victoria’s economic relationship with China has increased significantly in recent years. China is Victoria’s most significant trading partner and there is room for this relationship to grow.”
Topics: 2010, 2011 AFL International Cup, AFL, AFL Shanghai Showdown, Australia, Australian Football League, Brisbane, Brisbane Lions, business, Carlton, China, Economy, Etihad Stadium, Football, Fremantle, Governance, Governemnt, HE Xi Jinping, Jiangwan Sports Centre, Kaspersky Cup, Melbourne, moniter, monitor, news, North Shanghai Crows, October, opening goal, Premier John Brumby, Shanghai, Shanghai Eagles, Shanghai Sports University, Shanghai Tigers, Shuion Company, soccer, society, sporting links, sports, Victoria, West Shanghai Dockers, Yangpu District Government
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