After paying a record-breaking Rmb8 billion $1.3 billion for the five-year broadcasting rights to Chinese Super League football and buying a chunk of oil-backed English soccer club Manchester City, Li Ruigang is eyeing more high-quality sports assets globally, the Chinese media mogul said on Wednesday at the Boao Forum in Hainan.
Sport, which accounted for just 0.64% of Chinese GDP in 2014, is on the cusp of something big, with football leading the way as the country flexes its financial muscles in search of top-quality assets, including a growing line of soccer players from South America and Europe. But it’s not just football that the chairman of state-backed investment firm...
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