Chairman John Williams 'encouraged' by West Brom eco-towns in China
Building six Chinese sports town in the name of Albion is an ‘encouraging’ sign of growth, according to chairman John Williams.
Palm Eco-Town Development Company, who used to be run by Baggies owner Guochuan Lai, have already won a contract to build a ‘West Bromwich Albion Soccer Town’ near the city of Giuyang in the south west of China.
The company, who are Albion’s shirt sponsors next season, are hoping to build half a dozen sports towns in total using the name of the Baggies.
Palm’s affiliation to a Premier League club helped win them the first contract, and Albion’s academy will be sending coaches out to China to help develop the projects.
Although Lai officially left Palm in 2014, he remains a director of a number of subsidiary companies and is strongly affiliated with Palm.
Winning these lucrative government contracts was the reason Lai bought the club off Jeremy Peace for around £175m-200m.
And Williams, who replaced Peace as chairman last August, thinks it bodes well for the future of the club.
“We’re now beginning to see Palm’s strategy for the club emerge through their expertise and knowledge of the market in China,” he said.
“While the board of the club remains firmly focused on achieving success on the pitch, it is very encouraging to see the development of our profile in China as Guochuan Lai envisaged from the outset.”
Although Lai came to The Hawthorns several times last seasons, he spends most of his time in between the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Li Piyue, who is his representative on the Albion board, said: "When we announced the change of ownership last year, this was clearly stated as a key part of our business strategy.
"We have made it clear from the outset that the growth of Albion's and Palm's profile in this area would reap mutual benefits and that is still our intention."
The Baggies are expected to receive a slice of the money earned through these six eco-towns, although it is not known how much yet.
