On June 12, Guangdong and the UK-based Aspiring Youth Association agreed to deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges centered on football cooperation.

From left: He Rusheng, Wu Jinliang, Brian Jones, and other representatives attend the meeting. 

He Rusheng, deputy director-general of Guangdong Provincial Foreign Affairs Office and vice president of the Guangdong People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, met association advisor Wu Jinliang and council member Brian Jones in Guangzhou.

He praised Wu's persistent efforts in fostering China-UK people-to-people exchanges, noting the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou Innovation Cluster ranked first on the 2025 WIPO Global Innovation Index.

As a major Chinese sports province, Guangdong has fostered plenty of Olympic champions, with its football and basketball leagues hugely popular locally. He said Guangdong has conducted youth football training exchanges with British clubs, expecting deeper cooperation facilitated by the UK association.

Wu and Jones thanked Guangdong for the warm reception. They said football enjoys extensive popularity in China.

The association will cooperate with top European clubs to scout young football talents in Guangdong, and launch joint youth exchange, training and sports tech programs to strengthen bilateral friendly ties via sports.

Representatives from the Guangdong Football Association, Guangzhou Kuanyang Sports and the provincial friendship association attended the meeting.