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China Youth Tennis Development Fund

Talented tennis players in China will have better opportunities to hone their skills in the world’s top clubs in the future. This window of opportunity will open for promising Chinese players in the form of a foundation launched jointly by the Samaranch Foundation, China Tennis Association (CTA) and the Beiqi Foton Motor Company Limited in Beijing on June 23, 2007. Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the International Olympic Committee, attended the launch.

The “China Youth Tennis Development Fund,” as the foundation is called, will enable outstanding tennis players and coaches to receive training at Spain’s top tennis clubs. The players will also participate in the Spanish professional championship. In its initial years, two tennis coaches and eight players will be supported by the foundation every year. It will eventually expand its operations to talent scouting and promoting tennis throughout the nation.

The foundation combines the strengths of its three promoters— the financial wherewithal of Foton; training resources and communication channels of the Samaranch Foundation, and the large pool of tennis talent at CTA’s disposal.

Along with providing basic financial support, Foton has promised that from January 1, 2008, the company will donate 100 yuan to the foundation of the profits of every MP-X product it sells. Launched in April 2007, MP-X is Foton’s first high-end MPV (multipurpose vehicle) product. With its advanced technology, high-security features and unrivalled convenience, the new MP-X has been enthusiastically received by consumers. Foton’s decision to share a part of its profits from MP-X with the foundation shows the company’s confidence in the new model and promises a sound source of funding for the foundation.

To encourage Chinese players to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Foton Motor has also announced it will award tennis medal winners the recently launched MP-X model.

Tennis is not traditionally a game that the Chinese excel in. But the sport is becoming increasingly popular, especially since Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won the gold medal for women’s doubles in the 2004 Olympic Games in Sydney. China is hoping for a repeat performance in the 2008 Olympics. To achieve this goal, and even greater ones in the future, talent has to be spotted early and equipped accordingly.

Tennis training in China is still not very developed. Only a few out of a thousand primary and middle schools are equipped with tennis courts because of the comparatively high cost of training.

A tennis lover himself, Samaranch has actively promoted the sport around the world, especially China. As early as 2005, he reached an agreement with the China National Tennis Management Centre to collaborate in training talented players. His latest trip to China was an extension of his effort to promote tennis in China.

For Foton, which is China’s largest commercial car manufacturer with an accumulated sales revenue of more than 90 billion yuan (US$11.7 billion), undertaking social responsibility has been a hallmark of this tremendously successful company. Over the years, the automaker has donated tens of millions of yuan to charity. The collaboration between Foton and Samaranch was thus only a logical extension of their individual passions.