Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On Aug 13, 1998, soccer players Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai signed for Crystal Palace, a top London club. They were the first Chinese players to sign for a foreign soccer club.

Fan and Sun both spent a successful period in the United Kingdom, as seen in the item from China Daily on Oct 3, 1998.

Fan played 88 league games for the club and captained the team during the three seasons he spent there, and Sun also played regularly during a one-year loan stint before he helped Manchester City get promoted to the Premier League.

Soccer player Li Tie moved to Everton in 2003.

In 2007, Charlton Athletic signed midfielder Zheng Zhi from Chinese Super League team Shandong Luneng.

There are now more than 120 Chinese players at foreign clubs.

The Chinese connection to European soccer has intensified markedly in recent years with investment in Atletico Madrid and Espanyol in La Liga, Den Haag in the Dutch league, Sochaux in France, and Manchester City in the United Kingdom.

In 2016, the central government announced plans designed to encourage the development of the sport at the grassroots level, with the aim of establishing China as the dominant national team in Asia by 2030, and a world-leading soccer power 20 years later.

The strategy includes plans to create a three-tier amateur competition that involves clubs in 100 cities and more than 50 million players, and the development of 70,000 new pitches across the country.

In June, China was confirmed as the host of the AFC Asian Cup 2023.Twenty cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have declared their interest in hosting the games.

China last hosted the tournament in 2004, reaching the final. At the most recent edition of the tournament earlier this year, China advanced to the quarterfinals, eventually losing 3-0 to Iran.