First Chinese Soccer Club to Go Public

Guangdong Hongyuan, a Group B team in the Chinese Football League's Division Two, became the first professional soccer club to go public after being purchased recently by the Yuehongyuan Co Ltd, a listed company on the Shenzhen Stock market.

The purchase prize was 30,000,000 yuan (US$3,448,276).

Club manager Wei Yongrong expressed great optimism at the development, saying, "Although most clubs nationwide are in the red, we are confident we can erase the deficit."

Hongyuan, once a domestic powerhouse, were relegated from Group A three years ago. After 16 rounds of the latest competition, they are now 5th of 12 in Group B.





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