Three Bundesliga football clubs, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04, from the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia visited China’s Jiangsu Province on October 23rd during a visit of the North Rhine-Westphalia’s State Minister for Economic Affairs, Digitization, Innovation and Energy, Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, to Jiangsu Province. 

As representatives of the sports field of North Rhine-Westphalia, the three clubs reached a collaboration partnership with Jiangsu Football Association during this visit. 

A forum for economic and trade collaboration between North Rhine-Westphalia and Jiangsu was co-organized by the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry for Economic Affairs, Digitization, Innovation and Energy and Jiangsu Department of Commerce on October 23rd. The heads of the three football clubs in China took part in a panel discussion about smart football, along with speakers from Jiangsu Sports Bureau and the International Football Operation Center of Suning’s PP Sports. The three football clubs welcome talks with local organizations about potential future collaborations. 

This year is the 30th year that the North Rhine-Westphalia and Jiangsu have had a collaborative relationship. Earlier in May 2018, North Rhine-Westphalia and Jiangsu held a culture night in the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, Dusseldorf, in which the visit to China in October was revealed. 

According to CRI Online, currently around 30% of German companies (600) investing in Jiangsu come from North Rhine-Westphalia. More than half of the overseas investments in Germany from Jiangsu companies (more than 100) are located in the North Rhine-Westphalia. Back in 1996 and 1997, Jiangsu and North Rhein-Westphalia respectively set up offices in Dusseldorf and Nanjing. 

References: Jiangsu Football Association, JSChina.com.cn 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick