Li Bing has a new role: this time, he is "planting the future" for Guizhou football.

Reporter Lu Mi from Guiyang. On the morning of August 17, the second "Spark Cup" and China-ASEAN Education Exchange Week International Youth Football Invitational Tournament opened at the Guizhou Provincial Fitness Center. Simultaneously, the unveiling ceremony of the Guizhou Youth Football Training Center was held during the opening ceremony. Sixteen teams from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and various parts of China will compete and engage in cross-cultural exchanges in Guiyang over seven days. Li Bing, an iconic figure in Guizhou football, also attended the opening ceremony and emphasized in an interview: "Football itself is a crucial part of youth development. The education it provides is an important aspect beyond academics."

In July this year, the Guiyang Municipal Sports Bureau officially appointed Li Bing as the consultant and technical director of the Guiyang Football Youth Training Center, fully supporting the standardization and professionalization of Guiyang's youth football training system. His core work covers four major areas: first, systematically establishing a comprehensive youth football training system in Guiyang, improving management regulations and training standards; second, overseeing the selection of youth football talents and building elite echelons, with a focus on guiding the construction of teams from U8 to U19 age groups; third, conducting professional training and technical guidance for grassroots football coaches to enhance the local coaching team's capabilities; fourth, connecting campus football resources with social football clubs, optimizing local youth football event planning and competition systems, and solidifying the foundation of Guiyang's football reserve talents.

This morning, the Guizhou Youth Football Training Center was officially unveiled. When talking about the center, Li Bing said: "The information I have now is that we first establish the brand and then move forward. As for the training system, there is already a plan for the next phase of base construction. With the base, we then need to build the training team. In terms of building the training team, Guizhou already had some progress in the past few months. So with our base, the next step will be better able to serve the development of Guizhou football."

Li Bing has a deep connection with Guizhou football. In his early years, he served as general manager and head coach of Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng Football Club. During his tenure, he led the team to compete in professional leagues and, with his professional coaching and management skills, successfully helped the team achieve promotion to the top league, laying an important foundation for professional football development in Guizhou. He is a key figure in the professionalization of Guizhou football. Currently, all of Li Bing's work in Guizhou is centered on youth football training construction, grassroots football improvement, and football talent reserve, continuously providing technical support for the upgrading of Guizhou's youth training system, popularization of grassroots football, and the construction of a football talent echelon.

In the morning's opening match, the Guizhou Provincial Football Association defeated the Tashkent Creators from Uzbekistan, showing physical and tactical maturity beyond their age. This is a significant achievement of the Guizhou FA's youth training development in recent years. Li Bing said that there is still more to do in the future. "We must not only focus on popularization but also continuously improve the level of football, cultivate good players, and try to ensure that all children who love football can postpone their retirement age as much as possible. If we can extend it to retirement at 16 or 18, it means that at every previous age, they don't have to make a single choice. That would be the best for the development of Chinese football."

Finally, Li Bing also mentioned that a few cities have fully integrated sports and education. He also gave some advice to Guizhou: "Let children who love football and have talents in primary school continue to attend good schools after entering junior high, where they can both play football and study. I believe this is the best channel to connect with world football."