Meeting in Zagreb, officials from the Chinese Football Association say they were impressed by the performance of the Croatian national team at the World Cup, deciding they wanted to work with the Croatian side on the development of football in both countries.

Du Zhaocai, secretary of the CPC committee of the CFA, has told Xinhua that they are planning to set up 3 to 4 youth academies in Europe as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

China's first youth academy in Europe was established at the SK Slavia Praha club in Prague last year.