BEIJING — China plans to achieve full coverage of football facilities in all urban communities nationwide by 2035, according to a document issued by the country's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and General Administration of Sport.

The document also requires that all the newly-built or under construction communities in China should have at least one non-standard football field in 2025. By 2035, standard football pitches will be built in urban communities where conditions allow.

The Chinese government has launched a football construction pilot project in nine cities including Wuhan and Shenzhen since April, 2019.

"By now, 66 standard football pitches and 713 non-standard pitches have been built in urban communities in these nine cities through utilizing free spaces such as river beaches and public parks," Huang Yan, vice-minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said on Dec 29.

Promoting the construction of football pitches is an important effort for China to achieve football reform and encourage more Chinese people to participate in sports activities, read the document.