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United boost presence in China

Manchester United will open three so-called 'experience centres' in China by 2020. One of them will be adjacent to Beijing's iconic Tinanmen Square. The objective is to capitalise on the club's fan base in the world's most populous country.

Arsenal are ahead of them as they opened a Shanghai bar festooned with sports memorabilia last year.

As well as Beijing, the centres will be in Shanghai and the north-eastern city of Shenyang. This might seem a surprising choice, but the centres are being built in partnership with Harves, a little-known Chinese property developer based in Shenyang.

The centres will offer 'interactive and immersive experiences, using start of the art technology to bring Manchester United to life.' (I thought that was Ole Gunnar Solskjar's job). The venues will include restaurants and club retail stores, the latter presumably being important contributors to the revenue stream.

Simon Chadwick, professor of sport enterprise at Salford University, expressed some scepticism to the Financial Times: 'Man United are a little late to the party with all this. They are following what other European clubs have done.'

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