Spanish football club FC Barcelona has disclosed plans to open a second football school in China. Club officials announced the project this past Friday in Camp Nou.

The school, which will be located in Qingdao, eastern Shandong province, is the result of collaboration between FC Barcelona and Huanghai Pharmaceutical Co. The school will be called the FCBEscola Qingdao Huanghai. FC Barcelona already has one football school in China - in Wuhan, Hebei province, eastern China.

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While football is regarded as the most popular sport in China, there has been a conscious effort to promote the sport in the country over the past few years. China's current President Xi Jinping is a football fan - as shown by his visit to the training ground of Manchester City football club during his trip to Britain recently.

In January, China's Ministry of Education established a group to promote football in schools across the country. About 20,000 schools and 30 counties were selected to participate in a project to promote football in schools. Besides the government's efforts, there has also been a growing interest in the private sector to support the spread of football in China.

In a statement, the president of Huanghai Pharmaceutical Co. Wang Zekai, described Qingdao as "one of the cradles of Chinese football." He expressed hope that the Escola Qingdao Huanghai will succeed in "developing stars with values, as Barca has done historically."

Meanwhile, the first vice president of FC Barcelona Jordi Cardoner in a statement thanked Huangai Pharmaceuticals for supporting the project. "We appreciate its [Huanghai Pharmaceutical's] trust and support on this project that will allow us to transmit the values of our Club to Chinese fans and collaborate in the development of football in the country," he added.

The announcement of the expansion of FCBScola project in China comes less than a month after former Barcelona player and Brazilian striker Ronaldo announced his plan to create 30 football schools in the country.

"Besides business factor, the major reason for me to open football school in China is because there are lots of football fans and players in the country, and Chinese government and civil organization also focus on football development," Ronaldo told Chinese state media. "I hope my method of football training could help develop Chinese football. I think Chinese football has the mass base and determination, but it may still lack the proper concept and training method."

TagsHuanghai Pharmaceutical Co., FCBEscola Qingdao Huanghai