Canberra United confident recruit Wu Chengshu will help open doors in China

With a desire to strengthen ties between Australia and China, Gardiner tasked new coach Njegosh Popovich with identifying an elite Chinese prospect for the upcoming A-League Women's season.

It's a process that led to Chengshu, a speedy midfielder with 12 international caps to her name and a member of China's Asian Cup winning team earlier this year.

With the Chinese Football Association keen for their players to feature in domestic competitions around the world, particularly Australia, the 26-year-old has joined Canberra United on a one-year loan.

Club officials are exploring ways to establish a pipeline of players over the coming seasons while also opening up opportunities for new, and lucrative, corporate partners that shore up the team's financial future.

"We're a professional club in the Asian Football Confederation and it's time we had one of the region's top players in our club," Gardiner said. "It's time to show we want to compete on the international stage.

"This is an important step by a football institution to help strengthen people-to-people relations between Australia and China. Sport does that, it connects communities."

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Popovich didn't have to search far to find Chengshu after he received a tip off from former coach Oscar Langone.

It took one look at her highlights for Popovich to recognise Chengshu was the perfect player to open up scoring opportunities for star striker Michelle Heyman.

The squad for the upcoming season features a mix of youth and experience, with youngsters such as Sofia Christopherson and Emma Ilijoski set to learn plenty of lessons from the Chinese international.

"It's a great step forward for the A-League Women's," Popovich said.

"The experience of Chengshu is unbelievable. She's a winner in the AFC Championship, we can only benefit from that.

"She'll bring more professionalism to what our girls are used to. The Chinese national team are always very technically proficient and very professional in everything they do, from the warm up through to the game. That will be a benefit for us, for the younger girls in particular, to see a player of that level within our team."

Chengshu's arrival in Canberra is sure to generate a buzz among the city's Chinese community, officials looking to capitalise on the increased interest ahead of next Saturday's season opener against Perth.

The midfielder has only been in the country for a couple of days, but already she's settling in and determined to make an instant impact for her new team.

"I really want to help the team finish high at the end of the season," Chengshu said via an interpreter. "I also want to score more goals and I want to help Michelle Heyman get her 100^th goal this season."

Optimism is high Chengshu's season with Canberra United will be a huge success for all parties involved.

For Chengshu and Popovich, success will involve a host of star performances and a trip to the A-League Women's finals.

For Gardiner, and incoming chief executive Ivan Slavich, it involves big crowds, the establishment of long-term connections with the Chinese community and new corporate opportunities off the field.

Should everything go to plan, Chengshu could return to China with Canberra United to take on her former club.

"We'll see if we can find some more sponsorship that would allow it, but it would be tremendous," Gardiner said.

"There are some restrictions at the moment that complicate travel into China, but long-term, that's something we aspire to. To have a relationship with the Chinese Football Association that allowed our club to play against teams in friendlies in China."

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