While Argentina lifted the trophy at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, whether or not the trophy was made in China is a hot topic among Chinese netizens. After being eliminated from the World Cup finals, China continues to praise itself, saying that the World Cup in Qatar was impossible without China.
On the 19th, on Chinese social networks (SNS) such as Weibo, there was a succession of posts from football fans stating that “China is the master of the world championship”.
The FIFA World Cup, the winning cup of the World Cup, is awarded to the winning nation at the awards ceremony and then immediately withdrawn by the International Football Federation (FIFA). Instead, the counterfeits are delivered to the winning country. In response, some soccer fans in China are making an absurd claim that China, a country that produces imitations, is the main character. It has not yet been confirmed whether this counterfeit is made in China.
China is the biggest sponsor of this World Cup. According to Global Data, a British data analysis company, the four Chinese companies that participated as sponsors at the World Cup in Qatar, including Mengnyu, Vivo and Hisense, have raised 1.395 billion dollars (about 18 trillion won) in donations, exceeding the 1.1 billion US dollars companies.
It is also said that 70% of Qatar’s World Cup-related items, including millions of soccer balls, are made in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China. Lusail Stadium, Doha’s main stadium, and 974 Stadium, built using 974 shipping containers, are also made in China. Almost half (6,000) of the total of 13,000 fan villages set up as accommodation for the World Cup were also built by Chinese companies.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported the same day, “This tournament cannot be completed without praising China.”
Quoting Song Xiangqing, a researcher at Beijing Normal University, the media said, “The World Cup is the perfect stage for Chinese-made products,” adding, “The popularity of these products speaks to the fact that Chinese manufacturers have entered in the global ranking – end of market.”
Shin Hyun-bo, Hankyung.com reporter, majorfool@hankyung.com
