--FILE--Young Chinese boys take part in a training session at Jiangsu Guoxin Parma International Football School in Nanjing city, east China's Jiangsu province, 24 October 2014. Decades in soccer doldrums have left China dreaming of a world-beating national side ª or even one just capable of making it to the World Cup finals. Now, with Chinese President Xi Jinping adding his heft to the effort, Beijing has a new plan to realize this goal: start them young and get them playing. Roughly 6, 000 soccer schools will be set up this year as part of a new program to cultivate the sport in Chinese campuses, the education ministry said Thursday (12 February 2015). Authorities will also create competitive soccer leagues that span primary to tertiary institutions, in a bid to raise playing standards among youth. The proposals kick off a 10-year government plan to develop campus soccer, unveiled late last year as the vanguard program in China¯s efforts to reform its sport and education systems, the education ministry said on its official WeChat account.
