According to the Asian country's official news agency Xinhua, Chinese football powerhouse, Guangzhou Evergrande is the world's most valuable football club - an achievement which would have been highly unlikely, even a couple of years ago.
As per Xinhua, on Wednesday, a transaction in the shares of the club on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), gave it a market capitalization of $3.35 billion.
"Guangzhou Evergrande tops world clubs in market value." the national news agency proclaimed, as money continues to get poured on into the Chinese football scene with President Xi Jinping pushing to turn China - which is currently ranked a lowly 96 by FIFA - into a footballing power not only in Asia but in the entire world.
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The valuation also sees Guangzhou placed ahead of Real Madrid, who were valued at $3.26 billion by Forbes in 2015. On Wednesday, the football club's stock traded a fraction higher on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, with deals at 55.10 yuan.
According to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), it even got the better of the Premier League club Manchester United, whose New York-listed stock closed at $14.32 on Tuesday for a market capitalisation of $2.35 billion.
Guangzhou Evergrande is majority – owned by Evergrande Real Estate Group Limited, a company which is based in Hong Kong. The e-commerce giant Alibaba also holds a stake in the club which nearly comprises of 40% of the total value of shares.
According to the deal cited by Xinhua, 36,000 shares at 55 yuan apiece ($8.50), represented a jump of nearly 40% from 40 yuan each at which the club sold shares in a fundraiser a couple of months back.
Big spending by Chinese clubs
According to the website Transfermarkt, in the recent transfer window, the Chinese club splashed a massive amount of 42 million euros ($46 million) when they made a bid for the Colombian striker Jackson Martinez.
During the last transfer window, the whole world gazed in awe as the clubs from the Chinese Super League outspent their Premier League rivals by more than $100 million on international transfers.
The signing of the Liverpool target Alex Teixeira by Jiangsu Suning, a team based in Nanjing, Jiangsu for almost 39 million pounds was the biggest individual deal.
The same club has also signed the Brazilian midfielder, Ramires from Chelsea and according to the data released on Tuesday by FIFA's transfer matching system (TMS), between 1 January 2016 and 26 February 2016, the Chinese clubs have spent as much as $296 million or 208 million pounds on international transfers.
