The Chinese Football Association will set up a special training centre in Brazil for young Chinese footballers, the People’s Daily reports.

The Chinese Communist Party newspaper quotes the party secretary in the Chinese FA, Du Zhaocai, as saying the Brazilian training centre will be one of several facilities abroad that the association will set up to improve the abilities of young Chinese footballers and turn them into world-class players.

The other facilities will be in Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic, the People’s Daily says.

Last year the Chinese State Council, or cabinet, issued a plan that envisages the Chinese becoming a “world-class football nation” by 2050.