Neo Financial CEO Linda Wong Talks about a New Approach to Encouraging the Public's Participation in Sports at the International Champions Cup China Launch

The International Champions Cup is an integral pre-season competition for today's European footballing giants, with Europe's top football clubs and star players gathering for an unprecedented edition of this annual cup competition. For fans, they finally have a chance to see their heroes in person, and experience the action for themselves. The International Champions Cup is already in its third year in China, and, for the 2017 edition, the five superpowers of European football have accepted the invite to join the competition: AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, and Inter Milan, with the games being played in four cities across China, in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Nanjing.

Neo Financial's alliance with the International Champions Cup China is a further attempt to promote sports in ways that benefit the public, and the 2017 competition, in line with previous years, has launched a new project "Neo kids".  The alliance between the Neo Financial Public Welfare Foundation and the International Champions Cup is a worthy collaboration, aimed at recruiting school children from the poorest areas of Shenzhen, to participate in the competition as ball boys and ball girls. The mission statement 'Let's open the world for children' is not only a public welfare concept, it is also aimed at assisting the vast numbers of children living in rural and remote areas to expand their horizons, and give them the belief that they too can achieve their dreams. The International Champions Cup will join hands with businesses for the first time to focus on, and develop a vision for increasing the public's participation in sports, and to provide children from poorer, remote areas with opportunities for a brighter future.

The "Neo kids" welfare project follows Neo Financial's "Neo Mothers" financial assistance program, a children's public welfare project launched in 2016. Previously, besides the China Youth Development Foundation launching "Hope builds happiness", a public awareness film, Yi Jianlian's basketball camp and the Soong Chingling Foundation collaborated in organizing the Yi Jianlian and Neo Kids Basketball Training Camp.

Neo Financial's series of public welfare projects continues the sports marketing concept established by Neo Capital, Neo Financial's parent company. Neo Capital has, in the past, sponsored sporting events, and subsequently formed their own "spiritual fit" approach to sponsorship. They believe that participating in sports will generate social benefits, as people who engage in sports regularly not only have a more optimistic view of the future, but also look after themselves better and possess higher levels of self-control and discipline. Previously, Neo Capital nominated the Shenzhen Ruby Football Club to partner with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, in a move to promote sports participation among the general public.

At the press launch, Neo Financial CEO Linda Wong further elaborated on the original intention of the public welfare partnership: "For a long time now, Neo Capital and Neo Financial have been keen to participate in the promotion of sports to the general public. With the help of Puhui Finance, we can begin to understand thoroughly the attitudes towards the merging of finance and famous brand names. Neo Group is committed to inclusive financial business, with focuses on customer risk pricing and credit ratings. One particular study demonstrates that people who love sports are more confident about their future, and more likely to prioritize the management of their own finances and credit ratings, drawing the conclusion that, whether it is related to financial investment, or health and fitness, both reflect planning for a more fulfilling life. This is the fundamental reason why Neo Group is actively promoting participation in sports to the general public.

SOURCE Neo Financial