Huang Bowen's opening goal in a World Cup qualifier against Qatar on March 29 helped China secure a berth in Asia's final qualifying round after 15 years. The country aims to become a world leading team by 20150, said a new plan. [Photo by Wu Zhizhao/For China Daily]

Pei Encai, a former national women's team coach who now runs a youth training program, said the attention being paid by the central government to improving Chinese soccer is "really inspiring, and the ambitious targets have started a push for progress".

However, Pei said much remains to be done if China is to match the world's best soccer powers, given the domestic game's relatively weak grassroots foundation and lack of facilities and coaching expertise.

"Rather than looking to dominate globally one day, we should focus more on implementing all necessary measures to build a solid base for the game from the bottom up," he said.

Tan Jianxiang, a sports sociology professor at South China Normal University, said the Chinese Super League's semi-administrative management needs to be revamped to establish a more professional model adopting international practice.

"The CFA should relinquish its dominating role in CSL operations to allow decisions made by club shareholders and professional executives to take precedence. As long as the league is both supervised and operated primarily by government officials (from the CFA), it won't be as professional as it is supposed to be," he said.