Prince William focuses on football, film during trip
SHANGHAI: Britain’s Prince William focused his China trip on football and film yesterday with an agenda including a movie premiere and an appointment to watch Premier League-trained coaches kicking balls around with students.
The second in line to the throne is on a three-day trip to China on behalf of the UK government to open a festival celebrating British creativity and innovation, the first major event in a year of cultural exchange between the countries.
As well as pushing Britain’s creative industries, the prince is aiming to forge business relationships between Britain and China.
After arriving in Shanghai on Monday evening, he opened the Great festival, which showcases entertainment, design, health care and fashion, and met Chinese business leaders, including Jack Ma, an English teacher-turned-founder of the worldwide ecommerce giant Alibaba.
Yesterday, he toured the exhibits, which involve British companies such as British Airways and Jaguar Land Rover.
He was scheduled to watch secondary school students train with Premier League-trained coaches as part of a British programme and to mark the addition of football to the Chinese school curriculum.
On Monday in Beijing, Prince William met President Xi Jinping, and told him: “I also gather you’re quite a football fan.”
Chinese media reported that Mr Xi told Prince William that he wanted to learn from traditionally strong footballing nations, such as England.
Yesterday evening, the prince was set to meet Chinese film industry figures and attend the China premiere of Paddington, a British-French film based on a book about a bear who is found at London’s Paddington Station and taken in by a family.