China’s Role in the World Cup

Though China’s national football team didn’t show in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Chinese elements were still frequently seen in the football field.

The 2010 World Cup ended on July 11 with the Spanish national team as the final winner. The overheated football fields in South Africa gradually fell into silence. But a lot good memories were still left in people’s minds.

What’s your best memory for the World Cup, the young German national team beating England and Argentina into pieces, the Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casilias’ tears after winning the final, or the beautiful Soccer City field in the evening?

Actually, if you watched game, you must be impressed by the noises from the “Vuvuzela” and the football “Jabulani”. If you didn’t focus on the match completely, you can find the advertisements with Chinese in the football field.

Actually, this is how China joined in the World Cup. Maybe it was a pity for China’s national football team to be unable to take part in the World Cup (or maybe not a pity), the Chinese enterprises earned an eyeful during the World Cup.

But not all the enterprises saw positive results from the banquet of football. Though most of the “Vuvuzela” trumpets and “Jabulani” footballs were made in China, the Chinese enterprises making them earned quite a few profits.

In comparison, Yingli Group, Harbin Beer and Gree stood out among the various sponsors of the World Cup, showing the strength and confidence of China’s manufacturing.

Little Profits of “Made in China”

At the beginning of 2010, there was a report saying that the “Vuvuzela” trumpets with the characteristics of South Africa were made in China. From the TV we could find that many of the “Vuvuzela” trumpets had the words “Made in China” printed on them. According to the introduction from the Association of Wenzhou Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises, the companies in Wenzhou produced millions of “Vuvuzela” trumpets from the beginning of 2001. Another company in Ningbo, Zhejiang also produced more than one million trumpets. However, the high output didn’t bring too much income for the companies.

It was known that the prices of “Vuvuzela” in South Africa were from 20 rand (RMB 18 yuan) to 60 rand (RMB 53 yuan). In some luxury places the price even reached 200 rand (RMB 177 yuan). However, according to an insider from a Guangdong-based company that produces the “Vuvuzela”, the factory price of these plastic things was only 0.6 yuan to 2.5 yuan per unit and the producers could earn maximally 10% profits, while most of the profits were taken by the distributors. “These trumpets have no brands or intellectual property. So the producers have to lower their prices to earn more orders,” said the insider.

It was known that the producers of the flags, hats and something else related with the World Cup also had difficult in earning a lot of money from the products as the producers of “Vuvuzela”. Though the output was very large, but the tiny profits of each piece of the products determined that these companies could not earn too much money from the World Cup.

Powerful “Created in China”

How big is the cake of the World Cup? The spokesman of FIFA said on June 19 that the FIFA could earn 3.2 billion US dollars from this World Cup.

For some people who were watching the game between the two teams they didn’t support, their attention might be distracted by the advertisements around the field. The Chinese football fans might be surprised to see the Chinese characters on the ad boards “China Yingli”. On February 3, Yingli Group became the first Chinese company as the global sponsor for the World Cup. It was known that the company had the idea of sponsoring the World Cup in September 2009 and at the end of that year they reached an agreement with the FIFA.

Yingli Group refused to tell the detailed amount of sponsor fees for the World Cup. According to the requirements that FIFA set up for the World Cup sponsorship, Yingli Group should at least spend 540 million yuan (USD 79.7 million) on the sponsorship. Miao Liansheng, board chairman of Yingli Group, investing in the World Cup came from the thought that “the photovoltaic company’s success depends on the technological development and the brand differentiation.”

Yingli Group, which was put under the limelight, owns the most complete solar energy industrial chain in the world. At the end of 2009, the first bent photovoltaic battery panel on car roof developed by Yingli Group gave the world a surprise! Yingli Group applied for several patents about this technology. According to the insider from Yingli Group, this technology, once used in the cars, can save oil conumption by 0.5 liters per kilometer. Once fully charged, the battery can power for the car to run for 3.5 hours. It was known that Yingli Group had already begun the negotiation with Chang’an Auto, Chery and some other auto companies. By now, Yingli Group has already got more than 50 patents in photovaltic technologies.

Another Chinese company that flared in the World Cup was the home appliance manufacturer Gree Group. Someone said: “The Chinese wind blew all over the football fields in South Africa.” This was attributed to Zhuhai-based Gree Group, which won the bidding for providing air-conditioners for the World Cup two year ago. Gree Group applied for five patents about its core technology G10 frequency conversion engine, one of which has become the international-level patent.

In 2008, Gree Group, as the only air conditioner provider from China, attended the bid for providing air conditioning system for the 2010 World Cup in 2010. With its advanced technology, flexible design and reliable performance, Gree Group beat all the rivals and won the rights of installing air conditioners in many important football fields. It was known that it was the first time that made-in-China air conditioner system was used in the World Cup. Dong Mingzhu, president of Gree Group, said: “Because we have mastered the core technology with our own intellectual property, we can have earned a certain place in the global air conditioner industry.”

Compared with these Chinese enterprises which earned a little from the subcontracting processing, the companies that rely on self innovation, both greatly increased their brand awareness by sponsoring the World Cup and providing facilities for the World Cup. “Created in China” won great applause in the World Cup, showing more promising future than “made in China”.