>>214751946
1. Most regular Chinese still can't afford to get into sports, and those that have the money/leisure often get into more prestigious sports (e.g. the things that give you Olympic gold medals such as skating, track & field, shooting). Anyway most rich parents just want you to study, not do sports. China has a "why the fuck are you doing sports you loser just study and be an engineer" attitude
2. China is spending a shit ton of money on improving the sport, so Chinese players get paid A LOT. Decent Chinese players thinking about going to Europe and learning skills there get scouted by Chinese teams and they get paid more in China than in Europe. So China lacks skilled veterans playing in Europe and just do half-assed work in China.