Chinese appliance retailer² Suning Commerce Group has agreed to pay 270m euros (307m dollars) for a 70 per cent stake in Italian football club Inter³ Milan, in the latest foray into European sport by a big Chinese company.

中国公司进军欧洲运动新举措：中国家电零售商苏宁电器商贸集团已同意支付2.7亿欧元收购意大利足球俱乐部国际米兰70％的股份。

“Our goal is to make Internazionale Milano more internazionale,” said Suning chairman Zhang Jindong, in a joint press conference with the club’s president Eric Thohir announcing the deal in the Chinese city of Nanjing.

“我们的目标是让国际米兰更加国际化，”在与俱乐部的总裁埃里克·托希尔在南京宣布该交易的记者招待会上，苏宁电器董事长张近东这样说道。

Mr Zhang said that part of the appeal of Inter Milan, as the club is more commonly known, was that it was the first European club to visit China 38 years ago.

张先生说，国际米兰吸引人的一部分，是它是欧洲第一个于38年前访问中国的俱乐部。

The retailer is already active in domestic Chinese football.

该零售商在中国国内足球界已经很活跃。

Within a two-week period earlier this year, Jiangsu Suning Football Club acquired Chelsea’s Brazilian midfielder Ramires for 28m euros (32m dollars) and Brazil’s Alex Teixeira from Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk for 50m euros.

在今年初的两个星期内，江苏苏宁足球俱乐部以2800万欧元签约了切尔西的巴西中场拉米雷斯，和以5000万欧元签约了乌克兰顿涅茨克矿工队的巴西球员亚历克·斯特谢拉。

Both were records for the Chinese Super League at the time.

两人当时都是中国足球超级联赛的记录创造者。

Suning also signed a three-year sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona in 2014.

苏宁也于2014年与巴塞罗那队签署了一份为期三年的赞助协议。

The club will benefit from Chinese “elements”, Mr Zhang said on Monday, without explaining what that meant.

俱乐部将会从中国的“元素”中受益，张先生周一表示，但没有解释是什么意思。

“From this day forward, as we add our Chinese elements to the team, and the team takes root in the largest football fan market, Internazionale Milano will be presented with greater opportunities than ever before,” he said.

“从今往后，我们为球队添加了中国元素，球队在最大的球迷的市场扎根，国际米兰将获得比以往更多的机会，”他说。

Xi Jinping, China’s president and an avowed⁴ football fan, has said he wanted to make the country a football powerhouse, with the government earlier this year approving a programme that aims to elevate China’s national team to among Asia’s best by 2030.

中国国家主席习近平作为一位坚定的足球迷，曾表示他想使中国成为足球强国，政府今年早些时候批准一项计划，旨在使中国国家队于2030年提升为亚洲最强。

Jiangsu-based Suning ranked first among Chinese retail¹ companies by sales in 2015 with Rmb159bn (24bn dollars) in turnover⁵ and 1,577 retail outlets⁶, according to the China Chain Store and Franchise⁷ Association.

江苏企业苏宁集团在2015年中国零售企业销售排行中位居首位，销售营业额为1590亿人民币，拥有1577个零售网点，根据中国连锁经营协会数据。

But the privately⁸ owned company has looked to diversify⁹ its business in recent years amid the rise of online shopping.

但该私营公司于近年网上购物的新浪潮中探索其业务的多样化。

In 2013, Suning acquired a stake in Chinese online video site PPTV.

2013年，苏宁收购了中国视频网站PPTV。

The same year it changed its named from “Suning Appliance Group” to reflect a its new focus on online retail: its new Chinese name translates as “Suning Cloud Commerce”.

同年，公司配合其在线连锁的业务重心，更名为“苏宁云商集团股份有限公司”。

Last August, Alibaba Group bought a 20 per cent stake in Suning for $4.6bn, the ecommerce group’s biggest acquisition.

去年八月，阿里巴巴集团以46亿美元收购了苏宁电器20％的股权，为该电子商务集团最大的一次收购。

Football is widely loved in China, creating opportunities for Chinese investors¹⁰ to profit from broadcast rights and merchandise sales.

足球在中国广受喜爱，为中国投资者创造了从转播权和商品销售中获利的机会。

In March, billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group agreed a deal with Fifa to sponsor the next four football World Cups for an undisclosed sum.

今年三月，亿万富翁王健林的大连万达集团同意与国际足联达成协议，赞助未来四年的足球世界杯，金额不详。

Last year Wanda bought a 20 per cent stake in Atletico Madrid football club for 45m euros.

去年万达以4500万欧元收购了马德里竞技足球俱乐部20％的股份。

A consortium of investors paid 400m dollars for a 13 per cent stake in Manchester City in December.

去年12月，一个由投资者组成的财团支付了4亿美元收购了曼彻斯特城13％的股权。

Rumours¹¹ have also swirled¹² in recent months that Chinese buyers are also targeting AC Milan, the city’s other elite¹³ football team.

最近几个月传闻说中国买家也瞄准了AC米兰，该市的又一支精英球队。