VfB Stuttgart: partnership with the Chinese city of Nanjing dedicated to youth development

VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga) has entered into a partnership with the city of Nanjing (China) "to bring children and young people together and promote German-Chinese relations via exchange visits," announced the club on 06/03/2026. Nanjing is the capital of the Chinese region of Jiangsu, the partner region of Baden-Württemberg, where the city of Stuttgart is located.

As part of the partnership, the VfB Football School will work with the Chinese city’s municipal sports authorities and will gradually set up "over the coming years" a football exchange programme for students in "some 350 schools".

VfB Stuttgart will also offer training to coaches and teaching staff "using the club’s training methodology," while youth teams from Nanjing will travel to Germany to train with VfB Stuttgart and play friendlies against its teams "as well as taking part in a wide-ranging cultural exchange programme".

"China has represented for a number of years one of the most important international markets for German professional football," according to VfB Stuttgart, referring to the country which is one of its…