On 15 October, a friendly football tournament sponsored by the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai kicked off at Wellington College International Shanghai. The 24 teams were from well-known British enterprises or enterprises which have close contact with the UK. Sanpower was invited to participate in the tournament as a close partner of the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai. The Sanpower team took with Hamleys, House of Fraser, Brookstone and Sanpower’s other branded banners onto the pitch. The cheerleaders and logistics team composed of the Group Culture and Brand Management Centre, Public Relations and Administration Centre and International Affairs Management Centre provided the team with both material and psychological support.

The tournament adopted a group system. The 24 teams were divided into four groups and competed on the four pitches at the same time. Each team battled the five other teams in the group one by one. In other teams were many British players, who had physical advantages and great strengths in terms of age, physical ability and skill. Facing their rivals’ fierce attacks, the temporary Sanpower team managed to hold on under pressure at the critical moment. Three highly tense matches were played in the morning, during which Sanpower team experienced a win, a loss and a draw, and qualified to play in the finals. All players tried their best. With less than 10 minutes to the end of the match, the two teams were even on 1-1 as Liu Yuhua completed a precise pass to Zhang Yong, whose shot at goal won a critical goal for the team, allowing Sanpower to qualify for the next round.

In the face of continuing attacks, goalkeepers Ryan Pedersen David and Zhang Xiaolong used everything they had to stop the rival’s shots time and time again. At the end of the last round, the Sanpower team and the rival team were even, so the game moved into a heart-stopped set of penalty kicks. Zhang Xiaolong stopped many aggressive shots on goal and only after the competition was over did he seek treatment for the wound on his knee.

After six furious rounds, the Sanpower team finally won second place within the group and made it to the final eight. The team was also honoured with an award for most sportsmanlike team and Phil Roebuck, chairman of British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai presented trophy to the representative players.

According to chief coach Huang Jinzhe, the Sanpower football team was founded in early September 2016. The team members are from different departments in Sanpower as well as its subsidiaries who have gotten together due to their love for football. They trained twice for the competition and on the field the team fully embodied sportsmanlike values. Some of them played with injuries, and some were hurt during the competition and continued to fight. Even when losing a game, the Sanpower team applauded for the rival team and when they bumped into the other team they would be the first to make friendly overtures. On the field, the Sanpower team demonstrated the Sanpower people’s spirit: to have the courage to struggle, to work together with one will and to be united and friendly.

As an important sponsor of the event, Brookstone provided a drone to photograph the competition while House of Fraser provided cheer sticks. Hamleys put up an interactive toy fairground at the site, to provide players’ wives, children and friends with rest and entertainment, making sure everyone can participate and get moving.

Off the field, Sanpower’s spectator stand was a highlight. Before the competition, the cheerleaders prepared fully. They held banners, posters, team flags, cheer sticks and other eye-catching things, which attracted the attention of the entire field.

Recently, Sanpower’s “going global” strategy has been accelerated, and it is with the UK that Sanpower is most closely allied in opinion and feelings. On October 2015, Yuan Yafei, the chairman of Sanpower Group Yuan Yafei and Prince William jointly launched the Wildlife Protection Foundation and signed a memorandum of understanding. In March this year, Yue Lei, senior vice president of Sanpower Group, was appointed the first Chinese image ambassador for United for Wildlife (UFW). Since then, Sanpower actively carried out charity promotions a number of times. During London Design Festival “Nanjing Week” not long ago, Prince William gave the charity taxi campaign for wildlife protection held by Sanpower in Nanjing a thumbs up.

During the competition held by the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai, the Sanpower team shouldered an important mission - to promote wildlife protection. The Sanpower team showed off well-designed posters for wildlife protection at the event and appealed to everyone to take action, attracting the attention of many Chinese and foreign friends. A British player held a sign and showed his support for Sanpower’s charity action in not-so-fluent Chinese, saying: protecting animals, great!

While maintaining close contact with the British royal family and government, Sanpower has not forgotten people to people diplomacy. The tournament, which brought together many well-known British firms, has not only strengthened the friendship between Sanpower and other companies, but also helped transmit Sanpower’s positive energy. Many of the companies participating the competition praised Sanpower’s sports spirit, charitable endeavours and team, and noted that they would follow Sanpower’s development in the future.