But for FIFA, the opportunities of doing business in China could be hard to pass up. Though its economy is slowing, China remains a growing market of current and potential soccer fanatics who love to wear the jerseys of some of the sport’s biggest stars and teams.

China also wants to turn around its woeful soccer fortunes, and has the money to spend to do it. Since 2015, after an edict from the central government, China has been among the biggest spenders on soccer. Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, wants to turn the national team — which has played in only one World Cup, in 2002, when it lost all of its pool games — into a tournament regular and a host for the event, the most-watched championship in sports.

To that end, Chinese money has flowed into some of the sport’s most influential teams, business and organizations. That includes FIFA, where Dalian Wanda Group, a Chinese property conglomerate, has joined a small group of top-tier partners. Wanda joined shortly after a group of senior FIFA executives were arrested in 2015, exposing a corruption scandal that threatened the organization’s existence.

The tournament in China will be the inaugural version of FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup in 2021. It will feature some of the world’s biggest club teams, potentially including European giants like Real Madrid, Liverpool and Juventus. The event will include eight teams from Europe, six from South America and — potentially — even teams from the United States.

The games are to be held in eight Chinese cities, with Shanghai and 10 others vying to be chosen.

Asked whether FIFA would follow its rules and conduct a human rights review of China, including its handling of Hong Kong and Xinjiang, Mr. Infantino did not answer. Instead, he spoke at length in general terms about how he believed that football had helped improve conditions in many countries.

Mr. Infantino said the FIFA Council had an easy time voting unanimously on Thursday to approve the selection of China, because it was the only country considered. He also cited other efforts that could burnish FIFA’s image, like doubling its financing for women’s soccer around the world in the next four years to $1 billion.

FIFA’s new human rights policy covers all of its events, and was most recently cited as the reason for the organization’s focus on successfully pushing for an end to Iran’s nearly four-decade prohibition on women entering soccer stadiums.