Bayern and Wolfsburg open offices in China
FC Bayern München and VfL Wolfsburg have both opened new offices in China as the Bundesliga continues to take the league of the world champions across the globe.
Read: Bundesliga number one in Chinese digital media
Just a day after Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert unveiled a new global growth strategy for the Bundesliga in New York, halfway round the world two of Germany's foremost clubs were also making strides forward in that direction.
Bayern established an office in the Big Apple in 2014, and have now added one in China where they will visit — along with Singapore — as part of their Audi Summer Tour in July.
Watch: Highlights of Bayern's China tour in 2015:
"After opening our US office, we're delighted to establish our second permanent presence here in Shanghai," said chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
"This allows us to intensify our contact with the fans, with clubs, with associations and other institutions. We've had nothing but wonderful experiences on our previous trips to China, and we've felt the high esteem our club enjoys here."
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Over 1,000 kilometres to the north, Wolfsburg have opened the doors of their official representative office in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
Zvjezdan Misimovic, a Bundesliga title winner with the Wolves in 2008/09 and who has been playing in China since 2013, and former Werder Bremen man and Bundesliga legend Wynton Rufer joined 150 high-ranking guests to celebrate the office's inauguration. Bundesliga legend Jiayi Shao was also at the event.
The office will coordinate all of the club's activities in China, including stepping up youth development.
"The opening of our representative office is a further important milestone in the implementation of our internationalisation strategy. VfL Wolfsburg is already established in China and enjoys a high profile. This is confirmed by our ever-growing fan-base in China, as well as our ever-expanding number of Chinese partners," emphasised VfL manager Thomas Röttgermann.
"Together with our international partners, we want to trigger many things in our core target markets in the future. The Chinese football market is, for the Bundesliga in general and for VfL Wolfsburg in particular, of major significance, because here you have the world’s most unique combination of massive euphoria for German football, concentrated economic power and huge state-driven interest in the sport of football."
Watch: Highlights of Wolfsburg's trip to China in 2016: