World Cup sets off consumption boom in China

Big followers: A model of the World Cup football trophy is displayed outside an office building in Beijing. China is estimated to have about 200 million football enthusiasts in 2022. — AFP

NANJING: Despite a five-hour time difference and absence of their national team, Chinese football fans are still full of zest for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as the global football extravaganza has fuelled a consumption drive in the world’s second-largest economy.

Wang Xiaolin, one of the avid fans in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, has set up a home theatre that includes a projector he specially purchased for the tournament.