The China Football Association will establish a beach football training center on Meishan sub-street in Ningbo, local media reported.

It will be the second such center in the nation after the center in Wuhua county in Guangdong province.

Yan Zhanhe, executive director of the China Football Association, said that the association is exploring multiple channels of raising funds for the establishment of new football grounds.

The choice of Meishan was due to Ningbo's economic strength, strong foundation in football, and favorable policies, he said, expressing hope that the training center in Meishan will play an active role in promoting beach football.

According to statistics from 2013, China only had one standard football field for every 130,000 people, while developed countries such as the UK and the Netherlands had four per 10,000 people.

China aims to have more than 70,000 football fields by 2020.

The national beach football team, consisting of 22 players, is preparing for the 2020 Asian Games and the Southeast Asia Beach Football Championship to be held in Thailand on November 13 to 18.

China Football Association is set to establish a beach soccer training center in Meishan sub-street in Ningbo. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]