Hundreds of students put on a show of group calisthenics at Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School near the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province on Tuesday as the school unveils its program to establish a Shaolin soccer training base. Photo: CFP

A Shaolin soccer training base for teenagers has been set up at a martial arts school in Central China's Henan Province, amid the rising popularity of soccer in China. The base, which was officially unveiled on Tuesday, was jointly established by the local government and Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School, near the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu.

"We have so far set up a boys' Shaolin soccer class and a girls'class, with each class having about 50 students aged 10 to 12," a public relations employee of the Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School surnamed Xue told the Global Times.

Three senior soccer coaches allocated to the school by the local government selected students based on their interest and physical fitness, and the two classes will officially start next week, Xue said.

"To set up this soccer training base is a bold attempt to bring Shaolin Kung Fu into soccer to deepen soccer reform and to create a new brand of 'Shaolin soccer,'" Zhang Wenshen, director of the Sports Bureau of Henan Province, told the Xinhua News Agency.

As the martial arts school has more than 35,000 students from all over the world, organizers plan to expand Shaolin soccer classes in the near future and divide students based on their ages, Xue said.

Soccer classes, clubs and training schools have mushroomed in China since February, when the country's central reform group, captained by President Xi Jinping, passed an ambitious soccer reform plan to develop and revitalize soccer in China.

Xi, widely known to be a soccer fan, has repeatedly voiced his support for soccer development in China. The country also listed bidding to host the World Cup as a long-term goal.

Foreign soccer stars have also tried to get a foot in the door of China's booming soccer industry. Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo will unveil the first soccer school named after him in Beijing on Sunday, and he announced earlier that he will open 30 soccer schools in China to train Chinese youngsters using his special method, Xinhua reported.