Former Manchester City defender Sun Jihai , who played for China in the World Cup, says investing in young talent is the key to future Chinese soccer success. Zhang Chunyan / China Daily

Sun says soccer has been held back in China by lack of investment in developing younger players, with too many resources going to the national team and to the top players in the Chinese leagues.

"In the past, China focused more on the Chinese national football team, and the first teams of the football clubs. More than 95 percent of the available funds in most clubs just goes to the first team and not to future development.

"They rarely put focus on training and developing younger players. There are fewer kids joining football teams. The quality of current players in China is just not high enough. We need to do better."

Sun began his own career playing for Dalian Shide, making his first appearance at the age of 17.

After winning four Leagues with the club, he was lured to London club Crystal Palace by former England manager Terry Venables alongside another Chinese player, Fan Zhiyi, who later also played for Dundee and Cardiff City.

Sun moved to Manchester City in 2002, where he also became the first Chinese player to score in the English Premier League.

During his six years there, he made 130 appearances as a defender. He finished his career in the UK at Sheffield United in the second-tier championship before returning to play in China.

In September, he was appointed club ambassador in China for Manchester City. In this role, he will be involved in promoting the work the club is doing in the local communities in China as well as engage with City fans in China at events and on social media.

"This is the second time I'm joining the club. I am very happy to have this opportunity, being an ambassador, which is a very different role.

"I am very much looking forward to working with the professional marketing and management team at City to promote football in China and to work with City fans once again."

Sun is one of only five Chinese players to play in the English Premier League. The others were Li Tie and Li Weifeng, both at Everton, Zheng Zhi at Charlton Athletic and Dong Fangzhuo, who only made one appearance for Manchester United. There are none currently.

Sun says the problem is the standard of Chinese soccer, which has slipped in recent years.

"Not many of the current players have the ability to play in a league like the EPL, which is a problem."

He believes the national training schools in China could make a huge difference to grassroots soccer and could be a breeding ground for China's great players of the future.

"Teenager training is very important. It is like building a tower. No matter how pretty your design of the building is, if the foundation is not well done, the tower will fall easily. We must build new foundations."

andrewmoody@chinadaily.com.cn