Village Super League Finals underway in SW China

GUIYANG, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The new season of the Finals of Chinese football's Village Super League, dubbed "Cun Chao", kicked off in Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province on Saturday.

According to organizers, a total of 62 teams are to participate in this year's competition. The preliminaries ran from January 6 to February 24, with the finals set to run until May 25.

For organizer Yang Yajiang, this year's competition will be even more exciting than last year. "This season we have 42 more teams, and the top 20 teams are allowed to invite players from those eliminated teams, which will help improve the competitiveness of the finals," he said.

During the pre-match, halftime and post-match periods of the three games held on Saturday, more than 20 ethnic song and dance programs were performed for football enthusiasts and tourists.

In 2023, the Village Super League in Rongjiang County became a sensation in China for its down-to-earth nature, festive atmosphere and entertaining games, attracting more than 58 billion online views and over 7.3 million tourists to the county.

Xu Bo, head of Rongjiang County, said that this year the county will focus on the social and economic benefits of the competition, with the aim of helping more local people to increase their income and improve their livelihoods.