China FA plan to import 100 foreign youth coaches by 2019

Aims are to help develop youth talents across the country

Each foreign coach has three local assistants to mentor

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Among those drawing inspiration from that timeless piece of wisdom are the CFA (Chinese Football Association), who have left no stone unturned to develop their game over recent years.

Keen on learning to 'fish', the football governing body of the world's most populous country have imported a series of world-class coaches in order to raise their managing levels. The FIFA World Cup™ winning coach Marcello Lippi was appointed head coach of the men's senior team three years ago, before being replaced by Fabio Cannavaro recently. Meanwhile, Guus Hiddink was handed the reigns of China's U-23 side last year.

These efforts, indeed, reflect the country's footballing ambitions at international level. But CFA are all too aware that the keys are to develop their youth as well as the local coaches if they are to achieve their long-term goals - increase the country's football population and help the national team qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

Then came the 100-foreign coach project last year, a notable program which is focused on youth development. As it is unveiled, a total of a hundred high-quality foreign coaches will be hired and sent to a dozen youth training centres across the country to cultivate their young talents.

"Youth development is the foundation of our football reform plans," CFA acting president Du Zhaocai told FIFA.com. "It is the core of China's strategies of football development.

“We have plans of engaging around a hundred high-level foreign coaches in our youth training from 2018 to 2019. We want these coaches to instill their knowledge into our youngsters, to teach them the football elements."