FC Barcelona unveils Chinese website

FC Barcelona has moved a step closer to its Chinese supporters and the promotion of its name around the world. The Chinese version of the website at www.fcbarcelona.cn has been unveiled, created by Chinese company Tencent, the biggest Internet supplier in the Asian country. Last November, the Club and Tencent signed a technological alliance to reach the massive and constantly increasing Chinese support base.

The president of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rosell, stated that “we are very pleased to present the Barça website in Chinese … This launch is a step closer towards tightening the bond between our supporters around the world and getting them involved in our way of doing things … Barça has been in China for two seasons, and we know how much Chinese fans love us. Their support is fundamental for FC Barcelona.”

The deputy director of the Tencent website, Wang Yongzhi, added that “the Chinese version of the Barça website signifies the connection between a great club, a large number of fans and an Internet platform like Tencent”.

800 million users

The Chinese website comes about as the result of a deal struck with Tencent, who agreed to develop the page and commercialise Barça branded applications and games in the territory, always with the approval of the Club, who will validate all of the content that is generated. Tencent is a technology giant in China with more than 800 million users, and although it already works with several clubs, Barça was always a prime target for the Chinese organisation.

Key agreement

“China is a great opportunity because football is growing in the country and there are so many potential supporters. We know that Barça is the most supported club and we want to reassert our interest in the country”, said Dídac Lee, the director responsible for New Technologies. Lee added that the agreement with Tencent “is key because the best way of getting into a country like China is via a local partner like this”.

FC Barcelona’s expansion into China began in early 2012 with the creation of a Barça account on Tencent Weibo, the Chinese Twitter (t.qq.com/fcbarcelona), where more than 50,000 Chinese citizens became followers in less than twelve hours. The club now has more than 1.2 million fans in the country.

Support for Barça in China is still increasing, and there is a growing desire for news about the club. One example is the competition run by the Catalan Tourist Board to promote Catalonia in China in collaboration with FC Barcelona. More than 11,000 people entered and the competition’s website was visited more than six million times in a month.