David Beckham signed by Chinese TV

The undated photo shows David Beckham, an English former professional footballer. [Photo: sports.163.com]

David Beckham has been signed by Chinese TV station CETV to present a series of programmes.

The former England, Manchester United and LA Galaxy star is understood already to have begun work on the project, with filming taking place in Guangzhou.

The series will focus on soccer skills for young players and fans, with the intention of inspiring China's next generation of soccer stars.

Episodes are expected to be released shortly, and could reach an audience of several hundred million people.

President Xi Jinping is known to be a big soccer fan, keen on improving the Chinese game and the performance of the national team.

Public interest in football continues to grow in China, in both the domestic CSL and also European and overseas leagues.

Last week, we revealed that European teams are increasingly focusing on Chinese fans in an attempt to grow their support bases, as well as to recruit rising talent.

The most popular European football teams in China, in terms of their social media followings, are:

1) Bayern Munich

2) Manchester United

3) Liverpool

4) Real Madrid

5) Arsenal

6) Barcelona

7) AC Milan

8) Tottenham Hotspur

9) Manchester City

10) Paris Saint-Germain

AC Millan was revealed in our article to be the team with the greatest increase in position from 2015, with Juventus falling the furthest.

There are some interesting lessons for European clubs in the survey. The authors discovered that Bayern Munich's success could be attributed predominantly to the way in which they engage with their audience through social media.

The team was found to have particular strength in delivering interviews, team news and pre/post match analysis through social media.