Bayern Munich wants to support the development of soccer in China, a top Bayern official said on Wednesday, adding that Bayern will focus on sustainable expansion in China.

The FIFA Club World Cup will be held in China, demonstrating soccer's great development and growing importance here, Jörg Wacker, FC Bayern München AG executive board member for internationalization and strategy, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Wednesday in Shanghai.

"The club world cup will be a big step for the football development in China. But an even bigger step would be having the World Cup," Wacker said. 

Jörg Wacker (left), FC Bayern München AG executive board member for internationalization and strategy and Rouven Kasper, Managing Director in China and future President in Asia of FC Bayern München Photo: Lu Ting/GT

He noted if there will be the decision that the FIFA World Cup will be in China in 2021, this would also be important for Bayern Munich. "It's about the development of soccer in China. And Bayern Munich wants to be a sustainable partner of this movement and therefore supports the relevant institutions as much as possible to develop soccer in China," he said.

The FC Bayern China Office was opened in 2016. The Bundesliga giant prolonged the contract of its Managing Director in China and future President in Asia Rouven Kasper in October. 

Wacker said that in the past three years, Bayern Munich in China has worked on building up a strong network to get connected to people and institutions and has substantially focused on youth development programs.

Regarding the unique strategy of operating in China, Wacker said the club is focusing on sustainable projects and investing in the first step into this reliable approach. "We are developing step by step, trying to find partners and institutions which fit to our brand and philosophy."

Wacker believes that if more top soccer clubs enter China, this will bring competition, and opportunities to Bayern Munich, which he is convinced, will be beneficial for Bayern and its partners. Wacker suggested the club is planning to bring the team over to China next year.

On Thursday, Wacker will attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the FC Bayern Football School Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province. The club opened its first football schools in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province in 2016, and 2018 announced its FC Bayern Football School in Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi Province.

FC Bayern Munich (Shanghai) Co, Ltd. is an indirect subsidiary of FC Bayern Munich AG, which runs the professional football team at Bayern. It is the second foreign office of the largest German football club following the first one that opened in New York in 2014. The Shanghai office is the club's first in China, as well as the first of any Bundesliga soccer club or non-Chinese football club to register as a legal company on the China mainland, showing FC Bayern Munich's commitment and belief to the Chinese market.

Bayern Munich has a fan community of more than 5 million on Chinese social media platforms. It is also running its official online shop on Tmall, an e-commerce platform run by Alibaba.