Nansha Football Tour: Play International Football at the Future Home Stadium

Reporter Wang Wei reports Nansha is striving to become a "Sports City," and essential to this goal are world-class facilities like international football fields and contemporary football parks. By integrating with the global community, Nansha hopes to host more international tournaments, especially in football, going forward.

Recently, our reporter visited several representative football venues and parks in Nansha District, including the well-known Greater Bay Area Cultural and Sports Center, the International Financial Island Football Park built by Nansha Kaijian, and the privately funded Nansha District Zhensheng Football Park. These three large-scale football facilities are strategically located from the south to the central and northern parts of the district, covering the entire area.

Additionally, the Nansha Street Public Sports Park is under accelerated planning and construction, expected to be completed by the end of this year. It will feature a professional 11-a-side artificial turf football field. These developments are the foundation of Nansha's confidence in hosting international events.

The International Financial Island Football Park stands as a model of Nansha's rapid progress in building a "Sports City."

To reach the International Financial Island Football Park, the reporter took the metro. Departing from Xiancun Station on Line 18, the journey southward took just 28 minutes to arrive at Nansha Hengli Station. After exiting at Exit D, the reporter hailed a driverless car and arrived at the park in exactly 6 minutes — a clear demonstration of Nansha's smart, tech-driven, and international character.

Li Quan, operations manager of the International Financial Island Football Park, said, "The park currently has one international-standard 11-a-side artificial turf field and two 11-a-side natural turf football fields. In the future, we will build four more 11-a-side natural turf fields."

Field 6, a natural turf pitch scheduled for completion in July 2026, is the core venue of the park and can be divided into two standard 11-a-side competition fields. Li Quan explained, "Field 6 has already passed several rounds of heavy rain during the 'Dragon Boat Rain' season, and the turf is growing well. Natural turf not only offers a feel and visual effect closer to top international matches but also provides better safety and comfort for players."

The field is equipped with 25-meter professional lighting poles, providing nighttime illumination exceeding 800 lux, which meets the standards for live broadcasts and professional training. The park also features home and away changing rooms, medical rooms, shower facilities, and 2,000 spectator seats. The hardware specifications are fully capable of hosting national youth tournaments, provincial amateur leagues, and other high-level events.

Construction is progressing steadily, with multiple fields having completed turf laying and maintenance. The overall project is expected to be finished by the end of August and fully open to the public in October. In the first half of this year, the park has already hosted local high-profile events such as the Nansha Super League finals.

Unlike traditional sports venues, the Nansha International Financial Island Football Park adopts a new business model combining "competition training + leisure camping." It features professional youth training institutions and outdoor leisure areas, offering a one-stop experience for fitness, family fun, and recreational consumption. Since its opening in March 2026, it has become a trending new landmark in the Greater Bay Area.

Located at the tip of 21st Yong Island in Wanqingsha, the Greater Bay Area Cultural and Sports Center sits at the geometric core of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It is the largest and most prestigious comprehensive cultural and sports landmark in southern Nansha, and the only venue in the region capable of hosting national and international football events with a 10,000-seat capacity. It serves as Nansha's primary gateway for showcasing its sports city image to the world.

The Greater Bay Area Cultural and Sports Center boasts excellent transportation advantages, with a multi-layered road network connecting the entire Bay Area. Supported by 11 major roads forming a "five vertical, six horizontal" system, it provides quick access to the main urban areas of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhongshan. Via the Shenzhen-Zhongshan and Nansha-Zhongshan-Zhuhai intercity rail lines, it takes only 30 minutes to reach Hong Kong and Macau. The under-construction Metro Line 18's Ershiyong Station is right next to the venue, creating a seamless link between rail and road, ensuring convenient transportation for large-scale events, cultural exchanges, and daily sports activities.

With 60,000 seats and a building area of 173,000 square meters, the Greater Bay Area Cultural and Sports Center features an innovative 100-meter sea-view window, blending Lingnan design with coastal aesthetics. Its asymmetric wind-resistant stands, professional lighting system, and standardized natural turf fully meet international football competition standards. The venue is equipped with a professional athlete center, media center, medical area, and ample parking, providing a comprehensive service system.

The venue offers diverse functions and multiple formats. The stadium can host football and track-and-field events as well as large-scale performances, while the two indoor halls can accommodate over 20 international sports events. The adjacent commercial street creates a "sports + performance + retail" integrated scene. Since its operation began in June 2025, the venue has held over 90 cultural and sports events in one year, attracting more than 600,000 spectators. It has hosted the 44th Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup (second leg) and the opening ceremony and first match of the Guangdong Super League, and has introduced the Paris Saint-Germain (Greater Bay Area) International Youth Academy, establishing an international youth football training system.

Located in Wan'an Village, Lanhe Town, Nansha District, the Zhensheng Football Park is a key benchmark for privately funded sports venues in Nansha in 2026. Fully invested and operated by Guangzhou Zhensheng Sports Culture Co., Ltd., it effectively fills the gap of high-standard 11-a-side natural turf fields in the northern and western parts of Nansha. This park represents a significant achievement in leveraging policy to empower the market and address grassroots sports infrastructure shortcomings.

It is reported that to stimulate the vitality of the cultural and sports industry, the Nansha District Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau has implemented the "Nansha Plan" and related provincial and municipal policies on cultural, commercial, tourism, and sports integration. Specific support measures include: for new cultural and sports complexes over 2,000 square meters, a subsidy of up to 2 million yuan, equivalent to 10% of the fixed asset investment; and annual awards of 100,000 yuan for high-quality sports consumption spaces. These targeted policy incentives continue to attract private capital to invest in Nansha's sports sector.

In June this year, the Zhensheng Football Park officially opened. Adhering to the principles of "professional standards, public accessibility, and diverse scenarios," the park has built two 11-a-side natural turf standard fields. High-quality Bermuda grass was selected, and after meticulous maintenance, the turf is flat, flexible, and offers excellent shock absorption, meeting the diverse needs of professional training, competitions, corporate team-building, and public fitness. The park is equipped with professional fencing, high-definition night lights, and rest service areas, with comprehensive supporting facilities.

The park's opening coincided with the final stages of the "Nansha Super League," and it was used as a backup venue.

Regarding the decision to settle in Nansha and future plans, He Jiahao, general manager of Zhensheng Football Park, said, "The Nansha District government now places great emphasis on cultural and sports work, and there are policy advantages, so we decided to develop in Nansha. Zhensheng Football Park is operated by me and a few friends. We aim to create a high-end venue that can host winter training and training camps for professional league teams like the Chinese Super League, China League One, and China League Two, while also promoting natural turf competitions and local events in Guangdong. In the future, we plan to build two or three more fields to form a Nansha football industry chain together with the existing park."

The establishment of Zhensheng Football Park has changed the shortage of professional football fields in northern towns of Nansha, creating a 15-minute football activity circle in the north. It is reported that the park actively collaborates with local primary and secondary schools, regularly conducting campus football training, public welfare trial classes, and youth tournaments, thereby nurturing grassroots football culture and talent. This has revitalized sports activities in the northern area.

Currently, Nansha's sports infrastructure continues to expand. The Nansha Street Public Sports Park is under accelerated construction and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. It will include a professional 11-a-side artificial turf football field, further densifying the district's sports venue network and continuously improving urban football facilities.

Zhong Huibiao, Secretary of the Nansha Street Party Working Committee, said, "We adhere to the principle of full participation and shared benefits, making the football field a 'bridge of neighborly bonds,' transforming residents from strangers into friends, and integrating fitness into daily life. We use meticulous governance to embed sports facilities into villages and communities, making events a strong link for serving the people, promoting harmony, and driving development."

Peng Xi, Director of the Nansha District Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, stated that in the first half of this year, Nansha's efforts to build a "Sports City" have yielded significant results. The district added over 100,000 square meters of sports venues, achieving a substantial leap in public sports spaces. Nansha has innovatively adopted a multi-investment model involving government coordination, state-owned enterprise construction, and private capital participation, deploying professional football fields across the north, south, and central areas. This creates a complementary and full-coverage matrix, completely addressing the historical weakness in football hardware and building a high-quality sports lifestyle system in the Greater Bay Area.

Peng Xi introduced that Nansha actively leverages social resources to bring in distinctive sports projects. It has attracted world champion Rui Na Badminton Hall and Training Camp, Feng Shanshan Golf Club, Gangwan Street Lychee Tennis Club, Lanhe Town Zhensheng Football Park, Pearl Street Pickleball Park, and Nansha Street Wu Chen Pickleball Sports Center, among other professional venues. This has formed a diversified and specialized training and sports system. "Residents now have more diverse and trendy options for sports," he said.