A CONSORTIUM of Chinese investors bought a 13-percent stake in Manchester City’s parent company for US$400 million Tuesday.

    China Media Capital (CMC) and CITIC Capital have purchased the stake in City Football Group (CFG), which had previously been wholly owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), just weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Manchester City.

    As well as Manchester City, the current Premier League leader, CFG also owns New York City FC and Melbourne City FC and is a minority shareholder in Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos.

    The deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval, comes after Xi was given a tour of Manchester City, twice Premier League champion in recent years, during a state visit to Britain in October.

    British chancellor George Osborne had previously announced a 3-million-pound (US$4.5 million) investment package for grassroots soccer in China.

    Earlier this year, Xi released a 50-point plan to turn the country into a soccer powerhouse, including proposals to set up 50,000 soccer schools across the country.

    Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang, the CMC chairman, will join the CFG board, becoming its seventh member.

    English soccer is hugely popular in China and David Beckham, one of the Premier League’s foremost icons, has been a global ambassador for Chinese soccer since March 2013. The Premier League also has a knowledge-sharing agreement with the Chinese Super League, signed in 2013, which involves sending Premier League coaches to Chinese schools.

    Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, the ADUG, an investment arm of the Abu Dhabi royal family, was the CFG’s sole shareholder.

    The ADUG made City one of the world’s richest clubs. Investment in players, coaching staff and new facilities has led to notable on-pitch success, including Premier League triumphs in 2012 and 2014, an FA Cup success in 2011 and League Cup victory in 2014.

    The list of owners of Premier League clubs includes investors from Russia, Thailand and the United States, but China has never previously made such a significant investment in one of the division’s superpowers.

    Birmingham City, currently in the second tier, was bought by Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung in 2009.

    (SD-Agencies)