Reporter Chen Yong reports. Chinese women's football development once blossomed in many places, but currently shows a tendency to cluster in economically prosperous areas. This is actually a common rule in world football development: economic backing leads to system improvements, which then drive high-quality advancement. Yet, for Chinese football, the central and western regions have always been the core area for its revival and development.

The relaunched "Chufeng Project" focuses precisely on this — enabling more hardworking, resilient, and determined children to embark on the path of elite advancement.

This initiative, led by the China Football Development Foundation, along with their other two major projects, "Youth Football in Central and Western Counties" and "County-level Social Football Competitions," concentrates on grassroots football, emphasizes development in the central and western regions, and targets non-mainstream projects, quietly demonstrating a sense of responsibility.

"Chufeng Project" Relaunched

On August 22, under the guidance of the Youth Department of the General Administration of Sport and the Chinese Football Association, and jointly hosted by the China Football Development Foundation and Adidas, the international women's football development project for the central and western regions—the "Chufeng Project" training camp—opened in Beijing. Established in 2024, the "Chufeng Project" is a public welfare initiative aimed at cultivating internationally competitive high-level football reserves, focusing on discovering and nurturing elite female football talent in the central and western regions. In 2024, 22 U15 female players from the western region and 5 grassroots coaches were selected to train in Germany. During their time in Germany, with high-level foreign coaching, intense training, quality matches, dense practical drills, and event observations, the young players rapidly developed, gaining greatly in technical and tactical skills, mental toughness, patriotism, and team spirit.

Wang Chenxi, captain of the 2024 "Chufeng Project" from Sichuan Zizhong Sports School, participated again in the 2025 training camp. She said that the 2024 training in Germany was the most unforgettable experience of her football career. The intense training, explosive knowledge input, and competition with German peers made her realize new trends in football development and her own shortcomings, changing her understanding of the sport. "During the year back home, I kept regular contact with the German coaches and feel that I am completely different from a year ago. My goal is to gain the ability to play overseas as soon as possible," Wang Chenxi said. She is currently a key player for Sichuan's U16 National Games team, scoring multiple winning goals.

Former "Steel Rose" Fan Yunjie served as the Chinese technical director for the 2024 "Chufeng Project." She believes that last year's training and matches in Germany with the "Chufeng" girls yielded great results. What surprised her most was the players' strong resilience, fighting spirit, and solid technical skills, even defeating Bayern Munich's U15 team.

Strict Selection and Systematic Support

The 2025 "Chufeng Project" follows a rigorous selection process and criteria: 74 participating young players come from 12 provinces and autonomous regions in the central and western regions, competing for 22 spots to train overseas. Over half of the participants have been included in the Chinese Football Association's 2010/2011 age-group elite player pool and attended elite training camps. Eight pilot areas for football youth training integration in the western region also recommended top players from city-level elite teams. Additionally, 8 grassroots coaches joined the training camp.

The technical expert group for the "Chufeng Project" consists of AFC A-level coach lecturers recommended by the Football Association, including former assistant coach of the Australian women's national team Ivan Jolic, as well as Fan Yunjie, Wang Liping, and three others. Testing indicators cover over ten aspects such as athletic performance, on-field decision-making, psychology, and team coordination. During the overseas training phase, Adidas provides a foreign expert team to support the training squad.

Ma Shuanyou, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the China Football Development Foundation, stated that implementing the "Chufeng Project" is a concrete practice of the foundation's commitment to the national football work conference spirit, strengthening overseas football exchanges and elite talent cultivation. It represents an innovative approach to leveraging both domestic and international resources, coordinating proactive government involvement and effective market mechanisms. The foundation will continue to improve project design, enhance training outcomes, and build a sustainable football talent development system and mechanism.

At the event, Zhang Linyan, while demonstrating the power of role models, also offered encouragement: "Dreams are the most precious and valuable force in the world. You are at the most critical stage of your life and football development. Cherish this opportunity, and on this path of football, soar higher and higher with the wind beneath your wings!"