Football Included in the State Council Government Work Report: Analysis of "Accelerating the Restructuring of the Football Youth Training System"

Chief Reporter Chen Yong reported On March 5, 2026, during the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress, Premier Li Qiang's Government Work Report outlined the government's tasks for 2026, proposing to accelerate the restructuring of the football youth training system. It also called for actively developing event economy, ice and snow economy, and outdoor sports, building and utilizing sports facilities accessible to the public, and fostering more distinctive mass sports events.

This marks another high-level emphasis from the national level on the importance of football revitalization and development, following the release of football revitalization documents and the convening of the National Football Work Conference in 2025. It reaffirms the strategic position of the football youth training system within China's football revitalization efforts. The terms "accelerate" and "restructure" underscore the urgency and systematic nature of building the youth training system, fully demonstrating the determination to advance China's football revitalization.

Accelerating the restructuring of the football youth training system serves as a phased summary of the work from 2022 to 2025 and sets clear requirements for the system's development in 2026.

The restructuring of China's football youth training system began in early 2022. The context was: following the collapse of the "golden era" football, as the professional football system was forced into reconstruction, the original youth training system, which was almost entirely reliant on professional football, faced unprecedented challenges and even damage. Some previously thriving professional club youth training systems encountered difficulties or were ultimately abandoned. The number of professional clubs systematically conducting youth training dropped to single digits. Chinese youth football once again confronted a severe situation similar to the period from 2002 to 2010 when the youth football system was comprehensively undermined.

That year, the national level conducted comprehensive research on football revitalization, clarifying the core role of youth football work. A landmark event in the restructuring was the official launch of the Chinese Youth Football League (hereinafter referred to as "CYFL"), which will hold its fifth edition this year. Other related measures included two major initiatives: the construction of national football development key cities and the pilot program for integrating sports and education in football youth training systems in western regions.

In the subsequent years of 2023 and 2024, the national level carried out more comprehensive and in-depth research on football work, particularly youth football, and gradually implemented corresponding plans. Ultimately, in early 2025, a high-level football revitalization development document was released.

At the National Football Work Conference on July 31, 2025, State Councilor Shen Yiqin emphasized the need to deeply study and implement the important instructions from General Secretary Xi Jinping regarding sports and football work. She stressed adhering to the Party's overall leadership, leveraging the advantages of the new national system, following the laws of football development, and taking the construction of the national youth training system as a strategic breakthrough. Efforts should focus on building a systematic and comprehensive high-quality football talent system, training system, competition system, and governance system, steadfastly forging a new path for China's football revitalization.

This was the first time the national level explicitly affirmed the core position of "national youth training system construction" within China's youth football work and its strategic role in football revitalization. The description of the football youth training system in this Government Work Report aligns with the National Football Work Conference.

Based on the trajectory of Chinese youth football development over the past four years, we can relatively clearly outline the current panorama of China's youth training system. Youth training system construction has two core aspects: firstly, building youth training systems at different levels and of different natures; secondly, constructing the crucial competition system. Beyond these cores, there are supporting measures such as youth football big data construction, coach and other talent cultivation, training model improvement, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

The core project of current Chinese football youth training system construction is the five-level youth training center system: national, regional, provincial (autonomous region/municipality), municipal, and county (district) youth training centers. Regional centers were established first. Suzhou and Shenzhen were the first batch of regional centers, commencing operations as early as 2024. The Xi'an regional center followed in 2025, and subsequently Chengdu and Dalian signed agreements for regional centers last year. On November 15, 2025, the National Football Youth Training Center was officially inaugurated in Beijing. With the national and regional centers laid out and networked, the current focus is on constructing provincial, municipal, and county-level football youth training centers.

From September 8 to 10, 2025, State Councilor Shen Yiqin, during research on football work in Shandong, pointed out the need to leverage the advantages of the new national system, combine proactive government and effective market forces, scientifically plan, and adapt to local conditions to advance the construction of football youth training centers at all levels. Governments should establish a batch of football youth training centers to lead and示范 drive the healthy and coordinated development of various football youth training institutions.

Earlier, on August 19, Deputy Director of the National Sports Administration Zhang Jiasheng stated at the National Football Youth Training Center System Construction Promotion Conference in Wuhan that provincial, municipal, and county youth training center construction should be the top priority in football work for the current and future period. Efforts should focus on key tasks, strengthen organizational保障, and ensure high-standard construction, efficient operation, and high-quality talent培养 of youth training centers.

The five-level youth training centers have different定位. National and regional centers serve national team levels and the pre-national team U14/U13 regional training camps. Provincial, municipal, and district-level centers correspond to代表队 from different administrative divisions, aligning with events like the National Games/National Three Major Sports Games, Student Games/Provincial Games/Provincial Three Major Sports Games, and Municipal Games/Municipal Three Major Sports Games. Requirements for the five-level centers are stringent; for instance, one core requirement for regional centers is international event exchange.

Two other national-level projects in youth training system construction are the national football development key cities and the pilot program for integrating sports and education in football youth training systems in western regions. By the end of 2025, key cities and western pilots were整合. Meizhou and Yanbian ceased being western pilots and became单一 key cities. According to plans, 2026 will see新增 selection of 2 key cities and at least 2 western pilot regions, aiming for a total of 18 key cities and 8 western pilots.

China's football youth training system will also be constructed through youth training models of different natures:

（一）Government-led model, where local sports bureaus or football associations undertake youth training functions, such as the Jiangning Football Training Base in Jiangsu Province,同时 using youth training center construction to助力 high-quality development of the youth training system.

（二）Professional youth training model, like Luneng Football School and Greentown Football School. The professional youth training system will still occupy a very important position, especially as in today's world football, the core of youth training systems is built by professional and amateur clubs, with professional youth training at the顶端 of the entire system. In fact, even for government-led models, employment in professional leagues is the ultimate出口, so the professional youth training model requires高度重视.

（三）At the amateur club youth training/social youth training机构 level, the state also grants considerable重视. The China Football Development Foundation早在2024 launched the "Social Football Youth Training Quality Enhancement Action Plan".

（四）The youth training function of school football is gradually展现, as seen with multiple players from清华附中入选 the 2009 age group national youth team.

Taking the 30-player集训 list of the 2009 age group national youth team for the U17 Asian Cup qualifiers as an example, the 30集训队员恰恰 reflect the上述 four youth training models: 15 players from professional club (including恒大足校) youth training systems, 3 from体育系统 (Jiangning Football Training Base) youth training, 3 from social youth training机构 (河南星途等), 4 from school football (清华附中), and 5当时 overseas留学生.

Of course, there are no clear界限 between the four models. Interviews by this newspaper show that融合发展 of two, three, or even four models has become the current trend in Chinese football youth training model development.

Another重点 in Chinese football youth training system construction is competition system建设, which is also the core抓手 of the youth training system. Since the launch of the CYFL in 2022,梳理 the competition system has always been a重点 and难点 in Chinese youth football work. By the end of 2025, after comprehensive梳理, the Chinese football competition system was布局 as follows:

（一）At the体育系统赛事 level, the Three Major Sports Games added a U16组 alongside the original单一 U18组.同时, the Chinese Football Association Youth Football Championship member association组比赛改制为前置赛事 for the Three Major Sports Games, achieving整合 of provincial and municipal youth football代表队赛事,对应省级 youth training center construction.

（二）全面提升 the scale and quality of the CYFL, with key directions being expanding the scale and quality of local预选赛, and增加 high-quality events during the总决赛 stage, including主客场赛事.

（三）整合 the CYFL and professional club赛事, merging the original professional club U21 League and U19 CYFL into the U20 League, promoting主客场赛制, and打造 China's top youth football league.

Although the restructuring of China's football youth training system has spanned four years,面向未来, with the ultimate goal of China's football revitalization, the restructured youth training system still requires further细化 and优化, including further optimization of school football and the competition system. Especially, the competition system is not only the core抓手 of the entire Chinese football youth training system but also its导向所在.

（一）At the体系建设 level,高度重视 the youth training function of school football and推动 systematic development. The普及 function of school football is self-evident, being its core意义, while its youth training function holds important地位 in countries like Japan and South Korea.近年来, Chinese school football development has accelerated. In the 2024 CYFL男子 U13组,长沙雅礼夺冠; in the 2025 CYFL男子 U15组,清华附中夺冠,重庆南开中学亚军. In 2025, the national youth school football league高中组 performed well, and各地纷纷开展主客场赛制的大学生联赛. To truly发挥 its youth training function, school football needs a贯通体系 from elementary to middle to high school, which is gradually成型. The贯通体系 between university football (including high school and university) is the main方向.特别需要说明的是,顶级高校设立 football专业是关键所在. This matter has been discussed previously; it is not an easy path but is the方向 for future development.

（二）The first层面 of the competition system:体育系统赛事整合仍需继续深化. This主要有两个方向: First, based on the existing Three Major Sports Games U18组 and U16组 (provincial/municipal youth football代表队), whether it is necessary to推出 a Three Major Sports Games U14组 linked to the Student Games (city-level youth football代表队) is a方向需要研讨. Second,既然整合 has been achieved at the national level for体育系统赛事体系,省市层面亦有必要实施整合并与国家保持一致,即推出 lower age group Three Major Sports Games, such as各省市举办 U14组 and U12组 Three Major Sports Games, to achieve有序衔接 between local and national赛事,同时对应市级 youth training center construction. Otherwise,无序衔接 between local and national赛事 would容易陷入困境 for the youth training system.

（三）The second层面 of the competition system:确保 professional youth training and professional youth training赛事稳定 and高质量运行. Currently, only the U20 League remains under青训赛事 run by the Chinese Football League. However,参考 worldwide professional club赛事体系规划,秉承 professional club赛事 "抓大放小"原则,实际上 the U17 League has absolute必要性保留. Considering赛事整合 and ensuring赛事质量, the U17 League could use the CYFL男子 U17组 as前置赛事, conducting an 8-team U17 League下半年.同时,准入标准 for中超 clubs should be更改: mandatory participation in the U20 League and U17 League.准入标准 for中甲 clubs should be mandatory participation in the U17 League,未来提升为 mandatory participation in the U20 League and U17 League.准入标准 for中乙 clubs should be mandatory participation in the U17 League. At the国内赛事层面,建议重点城市全力打造 U12联赛. This age group is the前置年龄段 for national赛事 and regional training camps.选择由重点城市全力打造恰恰可以对 Chinese youth football development情况进行前置检阅.

（四）The third层面 of the competition system:聚焦 international赛事交流. Besides overseas拉练比赛,建议年底举行官方赛事 with国内顶级 teams and国外 teams共同参加,邀请国外 teams参赛.此外,全力梳理并支持各地举办不同年龄段、面向不同国际方向的国际足球邀请赛. In 2025, events like Beijing's "长城杯", Shanghai's "明日之星冠军杯", Xinjiang's "喀什杯", Hangzhou's "钱潮杯", and Jiangxi Dingnan's "中韩青少年足球精英对抗赛"面向中外职业青训 teams had较高水平 international exchange赛, especially with攻防转换完全有别于国内青少年足球赛事, serving as重要方式之一 for enhancing China's football youth training system.