Lander Sports to Invest 2 Billion Yuan in Soccer Center Near Hangzhou

(Beijing) — Lander Sports Development Co. Ltd. has deepened its move into athletics, announcing it will invest 2 billion yuan ($290 million) in a large soccer center outside of Hangzhou in east China, where the Asian Games will take place in 2022.

The soccer center will be built on 164 acres — roughly the size of 100 soccer fields. Plans call for training camps, malls, apartments and soccer-themed hotels. It will be built in Tonglu county, on the outskirts of Hangzhao, where a women’s soccer camp already exits. The local government is chipping in for the cost of the land, the company said in its announcement on Tuesday.

The soccer center is the latest move into athletics by Lander Sports, which had struggled as a land developer against larger players. In 2015, the company started rebranded itself, grabbing hold of China’s booming interest in sports with construction and other investments. In February, it became the fifth Chinese company to back a professional soccer team in the U.K., acquiring an undisclosed stake in top-ranking Southampton F.C.

The company’s latest move coincides with China’s growing love of soccer, whose fans include President Xi Jinping, who has said he wants the country to become a powerhouse in the sport. Other sprawling soccer towns are being built by real estate group Evergrande Group, in Guangdong province, and retailer Suning Commerce Group in Nanjing.

It also comes amid a push by local governments in China to work with investors to build “tese xiaozhen,” or “small towns with special themes.” More than 1,000 similar-themed areas are being planned throughout the country, part of an initiative to drive tourism and urbanization. Perhaps the best-known of such corporate-sponsored themed areas is the Yunxi Cloud Computing Town in Hangzhou, which received investment from E-commerce giant Alibaba.

The Asian Games are held every four years, with participation by athletes from up to 45 countries.

Contact reporter April Ma (fangjingma@caixin.com)