Italian soccer club Inter Milan will participate in the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) as an exhibitor in the Trade in Services exhibition area. The 110-year-old European soccer giant will also be the only soccer brand for the inaugural CIIE.

During the expo slated for this November in Shanghai, Inter Milan will further showcase its charm as a world-class soccer club. Besides, it hopes to bring advanced European experiences in soccer management, teenager training, business operations to China through practicing what it preaches, and to promote the long-term healthy development of Chinese soccer.

Inter Milan win the UEFA Champions League in 2010.

Established in 1908, Inter Milan has made many achievements in Italy and Europe. So far, it has won 18 championships at Serie A, seven at the Coppa Italia, five at the Supercoppa Italiana, three in the UEFA Champions League, three at UEFA Cup, two at the Intercontinental Cup and one at the FIFA Club World Cup. Inter Milan is one of the only seven teams to have won the triple crown (winning the titles in the UEFA Champions League, league matches and cup matches in the same year) and also the only Italian club with such an achievement.

Inter Milan has deep-rooted relations with China. It came to China early in 1978. As the first professional soccer team visiting the Chinese mainland, it played with many teams, including the China National Soccer Team, showcasing the European soccer skills and culture to Chinese soccer fans.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan funded a training center for the national team of China and was invited to hold the post of technical adviser.

In September of the same year, the national team paid a return visit to Italy and played a friendly match with Inter Milan.

Inter Milan’s visit to China opened the door of soccer exchanges between China and Italy. After that, the China Central Television (CCTV) started to rebroadcast Serie A games, drawing the curtain of European soccer games rebroadcast in China. Besides, other Serie A teams came to visit China. These have not only pushed forward the interaction in soccer between China and Italy, but have also promoted the exchanges in business, culture and other sectors. Soccer has become a bridge between the two countries.

Inter Milan player interacts with Chinese soccer fans in 2016.

In 2016, Inter Milan further strengthened the relationship with China. Chinese company Suning Sports Group acquire a 70 percent stake in Inter Milan.

In the previous three years, Inter Milan’s first team and veteran team successively came to China and held matches, reducing the distance with Chinese fans.

Meanwhile, Suning Sports has also brought Inter Milan’s experience in teenager soccer training to China. Inter Academies were successively set up in Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Shenyang and Hong Kong, promoting the development of teenager training in China in a comprehensive way.

As Suning Group Chairman Zhang Jindong said, “One of the important reasons for acquiring Inter Milan is that we are going inside the world’s leading club and learn the most advanced operation and teenager training experience, thus to promote the long-term development of Chinese soccer.”