By Mark Heys
May 18 2006

Bolton Wanderers are firmly looking to establish themselves across the world after it was announced that they had formed a mutual partnership with top Chinese club Wuhan FC. The deal with the Far Eastern outfit will mean that there will be a global link up where Wanderers and Wuhan will share both coaching and commercial methods in the times that lie ahead.

Bolton's chief executive Allan Duckworth revealed that the club had been looking to break into the Chinese market for some time and he was delighted that the club was able to conclude such a prestigious business partnership.

"We have been looking at China for some time now as a potential market. There is a need to adopt a longer-term approach in developing partnerships and I am delighted that our strategy is starting to bear fruit with the partnership with Wuhan.

"We have identified opportunities that will benefit Wanderers, the North-west and Wuhan. These include the development of coaching, education and business links."

Wuhan's manager Chen Xu Dong was also delighted that his team had forged links in the English market and was looking forward to developing their association with Bolton Wanderers.

"We consider Bolton Wanderers to be one of the new forces in English football and we are honoured to have them as our partners.

"The Wuhan/Bolton Centre will be unique in China and will make a substantial contribution to the development of football, not just in our city but also in our country."

Since their return to the Premiership in 2001, Bolton have formed a number of useful partnerships across the globe and the brokership of the Wuhan deal already adds to the successful business ventures developed in Northern Ireland and Japan.