Authorities have now published the football reform plan approved last month by the central planning commission.

Goals set-out in the plan include returning the women's national team to world-class status as a mid-term goal.

Priorities for the men's national team have been made a longer-term project.

The new plan also includes aspirations¹ for China to host a forthcoming World Cup at some point.

Cai Zhenhua, head of the Chinese Football Association, says one of the first things to be done is to eliminate the bureaucracy from Chinese football.

"It's pretty clear that the Chinese Football Association should be spun² off as a separate entity³ from the General Administration for Sport so it can rebuild itself. We feel there should be minimal⁴ bureaucracy when it comes to guiding Chinese football development."

The Chinese Football Association is already being given more autonomy.

CFA officials are now being allowed to set up their own internal structures, work plans, financial priorities and international exchanges.

The football reform plan laid out by the central planners doesn't just cover the national teams.

It covers virtually every aspect of the sport, including professional clubs, professional leagues and grassroots soccer.

CFA President Cai Jianhua says their long-term development goals also include making football a sport children play in school.

"Nurturing⁵ young football talent is one of the key points of the whole reform plan. The total number of schools specializing in football will rise from the current figure of around 5-thousand to around 20-thousand by 2020. That number will rise to 50-thousand by 2025."

The Ministry⁶ of Education has already made football a compulsory⁷ part of the national curriculum.

New text books are to be issued to children to help them better understand football fundamentals.

Even though China has a population of over 1.3-billion people, as well as an increasingly popular professional football league, the national teams continue to struggle to move up the rankings.

China's men's national team currently ranks 83rd in the world rankings, and 7th in Asia.

China's women's team currently has much more global promise, currently ranked 13th in the world and 4th in Asia.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.