Brazilian football legend Ronaldo has agreed to collaborate with Ali Sports, a newly-formed Chinese sports company owned by e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Limited, to promote soccer to the young people of China.

Xinhua noted that the two sides approved the partnership on Wednesday with the objective of "providing high-level soccer training for Chinese teenagers and exploring Rio Games-themed sports tourism products".

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Ronaldo will be represented by his own Ronaldo Academy, a soccer school he founded together with billionaire businessman Carlos Wizard Martins. The ex-footballer plans to build 100 football schools around the worldwide in a span of five years.

The Academy will not only train young soccer players aged 6 to 18 years old to enhance their football skills and prepare them to become future professionals, but also provide them general education.

The first Ronaldo Academy was opened in April in his home nation of Brazil. The next two were launched in the United States and Qatar. Three schools are set to open this December in China in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Mianyang, according to NDTV Sports.

Paulo Swerts, manager of Ronaldo Academy in China, said that the schools "are expected to start operation in December" and that they are going to provide soccer coaching staff for each of the schools that they will start in the country.

39-year-old Ronaldo, who announced that his group will set up 30 soccer schools all over the China, said that they will "build the base of Chinese soccer pyramid" and maximize their partnership with Ali Sports and its affiliates to "tap into China's multi-trillion-yuan sports market".

"I'm ready to help China realize its football dream. I think China can be a major player on the world stage," Ronaldo said, according to Xinhua.

Although Ali Sports is just a two-month-old corporation, it is handled by the Alibaba Group, which is currently one of the largest online trade companies in the world.

TagsFootball News 2015, China Football News 2015, Ronaldo