Barcelona will open a soccer academy in China this September, the Catalan club announced on Friday. The club will partner with Chinese developer Mission Hills Group, which runs the largest golf complex in the world.

The academy will be located in Haikou, the capital of Hainan. It will feature seven football pitches and will eventually accommodate up to 1,000 children aged six to 18 years old.

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According to a joint media release, the FCBEscola in Haikou will be manned by FCB coaches and will follow the training standards used by the FCB youth teams. The academy is expected to open to its first students this summer, and the full season of training will start in September.

Aside from that, the joint venture will also "include a megastore, an interactive space about the history about the club, and a catering zone."

FCB Escola Barcelona will be the first of its kind as it will be directly managed by the FC Barcelona club.

"We are very happy to work with Mission Hills Group... I believe China needs something like what we are offering here... it will be a step forward in football," Josep Maria Bartomeu, FC Barcelona's president, said.

"We have chosen China because the future is here. The Chinese population is warming more and more to football. And why should Barca not help to create this dream driven by the Chinese government? We believe it will be very successful."

Barcelona already has over 20 FCBEscolas across the world, including two in the United States. It also operates over 150 training campuses in 50 countries, with more than 30,000 children enrolled on the club's different programs.

TagsFC Barcelona, Football, Soccer, Mission Hills Group, FCBEscolas