Yuan Weimin
President, Chinese Football Association

The EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 is ready to kick off in this July in Korea Republic. I am very pleased to see the four teams from Australia, China, Japan and Korea Republic qualified to the finals of the 2013 edition. We would like to congratulate them for their success on the road to Korea and wish all of them best of luck in the finals. This tournament will surely as usual take the pride of good competition as well as the happy meeting among friends.

East Asia has been playing a very important role in the world football stage, especially in Asia. With the joint efforts from all the members in the region EAFF East Asian Cup as the flagship tournament of EAFF is getting more and more popular among fans. I believe that the participating teams will present another exciting tournament for the world. The dreams and glory the tournament carries will further inspire the development of football in our region from grass roots to professional level.

By this message on behalf of the Chinese Football Association we sincerely appreciate Korea Football Association for their hard working in the organization and preparation of EAFF East Asian Cup 2013. We also cannot forget to thank Dentsu, our commercial partner for their support and promotion of our tournament. The success of the tournament will rely on the professional work of the host and the partner before and during the event.

Wish all the teams good results in the tournament!
Wish the EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 a great success!

As of April 2013

Association Established	：1924
FIFA Member Since	：1934
Number of players	-----

With the creation of the C-League in 1994, the Chinese football world was set for a period of exciting growth. The newly established pro clubs brought in excellent players and coaches from overseas to influence the league strongly. The local Chinese players emerged in a high level environment which taught them both the technical and mental skills necessary.
In 2002 the national team made it through the Asian qualifiers for the first time ever to progress to the World Cup finals. At the club level too Chinese clubs such as Dalian Shide, Shenzhen Pharmaceutical and Shandong Luneng were also achieving good results versus rivals from Japan and Korea Rep. in the AFC Champions League competition to find Asia’s number 1 club team. As for the women, they became a world beating force and competed in and won finals ranging from youth level to full national team. They then gained back to back experience hosting international football tournaments such as the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2008 Beijing Olympics. There was no mistaking that the world of Chinese football held a lot of power.
However, having hosted those two huge events China has currently undergone a reversal of fortunes. China PR’s team results were unsatisfactory at both the Women’s World Cup and at the Olympics. The men’s team has failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals for the last two qualification campaigns. At the club level too, recent international competition results have been poor. Can the good results of the past be recreated in the future? Now is an important time in deciding the future of the Chinese football world

As of April 2013