Emanuel Leite Junior is Associate Researcher at the International College of Football at Tongji University, China. He was previously a researcher at the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. His research is focused on the political economy and geopolitical implications of football in China. He has written on the history of football in the Soviet Union and on broadcasting rights in Brazilian football.Carlos Rodrigues is Associate Professor in the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. His research focuses on territorial innovation systems, particularly on the role science, technology, and innovation policy and practice play in systemic, territorially based development processes, and Asian studies, particularly in the domains of EU–China relations, and sports, power, and development.

• Introduction 1 Soft power or hegemony? 2 Soft power with Chinese characteristics 3 Sports and politics in the People’s Republic of China 4 The Football Development Plan 5 The Football Plan, creative destruction, and innovation 6 Barriers and shortcomings for naturalised players 7 People-to-people connections: belt, road, and ball 8 China’s relationship with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries: the case of football 9 Football, socialism with Chinese characteristics, and hegemony: a possible synthesis and the prospects for an alternative globalisation

Emanuel Leite Junior is Associate Researcher at the International College of Football at Tongji University, China. He was previously a researcher at the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. His research is focused on the political economy and geopolitical implications of football in China. He has written on the history of football in the Soviet Union and on broadcasting rights in Brazilian football.Carlos Rodrigues is Associate Professor in the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. His research focuses on territorial innovation systems, particularly on the role science, technology, and innovation policy and practice play in systemic, territorially based development processes, and Asian studies, particularly in the domains of EU–China relations, and sports, power, and development.

• Introduction 1 Soft power or hegemony? 2 Soft power with Chinese characteristics 3 Sports and politics in the People’s Republic of China 4 The Football Development Plan 5 The Football Plan, creative destruction, and innovation 6 Barriers and shortcomings for naturalised players 7 People-to-people connections: belt, road, and ball 8 China’s relationship with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries: the case of football 9 Football, socialism with Chinese characteristics, and hegemony: a possible synthesis and the prospects for an alternative globalisation