Contributing 38 national players and two young head coaches, Taishan's youth training has a fruitful year.

Reported by journalist Chen Yong. In January 2026, the U15 national selection team for the 2011 age group will start its selection camp in Shenzhen, with Zhou Haibin, former head coach of Shandong Taishan’s 2007 age group, appointed as the head coach. Meanwhile, Han Peng will lead Shandong Taishan’s winter training to get ready for the 2026 season.

Taishan’s youth training has always been renowned for producing players: Over the past 26 years, Luneng Football School has contributed the highest number of national team players across all levels in China, as well as the most players to professional leagues. Statistics show that about 10% of domestic players in recent professional leagues come from Luneng Football School. Now, Luneng Football School not only produces players but also coaches: Han Peng became their first head coach in the Chinese Super League, followed by Zhou Haibin becoming a national team head coach.

All this is thanks to Shandong Taishan Football Club’s long-term commitment to youth training and the club’s and football school’s “highly integrated construction” strategy since 2011. Starting this year, Taishan youth training has also implemented the “Starry Sky Plan,” which connects with excellent domestic youth training institutions to expand talent selection and promote youth football development nationwide.

Historically, among Shandong Taishan’s head coaches or interim head coaches, only one had experience coaching at the football school: Barbosa in the 2011 season, who served as interim head coach during the final part of that season, managing 7 matches in total.

Han Peng took over as interim head coach of Shandong Taishan’s first team before the 17th round of the 2025 season. After an adaptation period with 1 win and 2 losses in the first three rounds, Han Peng led the team to remain unbeaten in the last 11 rounds, achieving 8 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses, earning 28 points. Compared to the previous 16 rounds with 7 wins, 4 draws, and 5 losses totaling 25 points, the average points per game rose significantly by 28%. In terms of goals per game, Taishan increased from 2.06 to 2.57, a 24.8% growth.

Consequently, Han Peng earned the club’s trust and will officially take charge of Shandong Taishan in the 2026 season. Although he has not yet obtained a professional coaching license (currently studying for it), he exercises the full authority of head coach in practice.

Han Peng transitioned from assistant coach of Shandong Taishan’s first team in 2022 to head coach of the 2005 age group team. In 2022, he led the team (essentially Shandong Taishan U17) to a runner-up finish in the U19 men’s group of the China Youth Championship; in 2023, he guided the team (Shandong Taishan U18) to win the U19 group championship; in 2024, he coached Shandong Taishan B team (Shandong Taishan U19) in the China League Two, reaching the championship group and finishing sixth overall; in 2025, he started as coach of the B team, then became interim head coach of Shandong Taishan’s main team, with the B team again reaching the championship group and his main team performing well in the last 14 rounds of the Chinese Super League.

Han Peng was previously a coach at Luneng Football School, where he coached for nearly four seasons before leading Shandong Taishan. Now, he is the first Chinese Super League head coach contributed by Taishan’s youth training.

Zhou Haibin was fully recognized in his bid for the 2011 age group national team head coach position and was appointed accordingly. Like Han Peng, in the 2021 season, he was an assistant coach for Shandong Taishan, helping the team win both the Chinese Super League and FA Cup. In 2022, Zhou Haibin and Han Peng joined Luneng Football School together to coach the 2007 age group team.

In 2022, Zhou Haibin led the team (Shandong Taishan U15) to win the U15 men’s group championship in the China Youth Championship; in 2023, he coached the team (Shandong Taishan U16) to an upset victory in the U17 league; in 2024, he led the team (Shandong Taishan U17) to win the U19 men’s group championship in the China Youth Championship; in 2025, Zhou Haibin continued to lead this team to defend their U19 men’s group championship title.

Zhou Haibin is not the first national team head coach produced by Luneng Football School: Zhang Ning served as Taishan’s youth team head coach from 2001 to 2003 and, like Zhou, won nearly all championships in his age group. In 2003, Zhang Ning became head coach of the 1988 age group national youth team, winning the AFC U-16 Championship in 2004 and qualifying for the U17 World Cup — the last time China’s youth team reached this tournament. Zhang Ning also coached the national youth team on another occasion.

Looking ahead, it is worth anticipating whether Zhou Haibin can lead the youth national team to qualify again for the U17 World Cup.

At the December 12 awards ceremony for China’s third-tier professional leagues, Peng Xiao was named the Best Young Player of the China League Two. As a central defender, he scored 6 goals in just 14 league matches and is currently preparing with the U22 national team for the upcoming U23 Asian Cup.

Peng Xiao is just one example among many outstanding young players from Taishan’s youth training. In 2025, Taishan’s youth system contributed the highest number of players to various national teams at all levels.

Five players in the Chinese national team: Wei Shihao, Xie Wenneng, Bai Helamu (briefly in Taishan’s youth team), Mai Wulang (training squad), Yu Jinyong (East Asian Cup squad);

Seven players in the U22 national team: Chen Zhexuan, Bai Helamu, Mai Wulang, Yu Jinyong, Yimulan, Peng Xiao, Chen Zeshi;

Eight players in the U20 national team: Shi Songchen, Peng Xiao, Chen Zeshi, Liu Qiwei, Yimulan, Wang Haobin, Qi Qiancheng, Chen Shihan;

Nine players in the U18 national team: Yang Yang, Yue Ruijie, Bao Kaiwen, Jia Weiwei, Chen Zihan, Yihesan Yilamu (official roster), Li Yuanjie, Li Xiang, Lei Guanzhang (selection squad);

Four players in the U17 national team: Yihesan Yilamu, Wang Yi, Yao Junyu, Li Xiang;

Eight players in the U16 national team: Kong Xinuo, He Sifan, Xiao Chenxi, Zhang Junhao, Li Junpeng, Lu Junbo, Xu Zengfu, Zhang Xuyao;

Five players in the U15 national team: Jiang Leshang, Ji Zhenghao, Yang Chenshuo, Pan Zhaowei, Peng Xiran.

In 2025, across seven official national team levels, Taishan’s youth training contributed as many as 38 national players, with 8 players selected across different age groups to higher-level national teams.

Since the launch of the China Youth Championship in 2022 and the U-series league in 2023, Taishan’s youth training has won nearly half of the major youth championships over the past four years, including more than half of the titles in the China Youth Championship.

Regarding the China Youth Championship, from 2022 to now, 16 competitions were held across four men’s age groups. Shandong Taishan’s youth teams won 9 of these championships, including a four-year consecutive championship in the U15 men’s group and four titles in the U19 men’s group, as well as the inaugural U13 men’s group championship in 2022.

Notably, except for the first U19 men’s group championship won with age-appropriate players, Taishan’s other three U19 group titles were all achieved by younger teams defeating older opponents, corresponding to the 18, 17, and 18-year-old age groups respectively.

In the U-series leagues, since the competition resumed in 2023, there have been 9 tournaments across the U21, U17, and U15 categories. Shandong Taishan participated in 7 of these; they did not enter the U21 league in 2024 and 2025 due to the B team competing in China League Two. Among the 7 tournaments, Taishan’s youth teams won 2 championships: in 2023, Zhou Haibin led Shandong Taishan U16 to the U17 league title, and that same year, Yu Yuanwei guided Shandong Taishan U21 to the U21 league championship.

Besides their own achievements, Taishan’s youth training also supported Shandong’s teams in the Three Major Ball Sports Games and the National Games football competitions: Shandong, mainly composed of Taishan’s youth squads, won the 2024 Three Major Ball Sports Games and earned a runner-up, third place, and fourth place in this year’s National Games.

Taishan’s youth training produces both players and coaches, thanks to the “integrated youth training construction” strategy. This strategy centers on establishing a cooperative development mechanism between the club and football school, focusing on improving the transition system from youth training to the professional team, while building a sustainable competitive model. With this highly integrated construction, Shandong Taishan Football Club has incorporated retired players like Han Peng, Zhou Haibin, and Wang Qiang into the youth coaching system.

The Taishan youth training system innovatively implements a “younger against older” competition development model, most notably winning the U19 men’s group championship in the China Youth Championship three times with younger teams. Additionally, in two consecutive seasons of China League Two, Shandong Taishan B team competed with 19- and 20-year-old squads and reached the championship group both years.

Shandong Taishan Football Club’s “Starry Sky” Plan is a key part of its “integrated youth training construction” strategy, aiming to expand its talent development network by integrating high-quality domestic youth training resources. The plan actively connects with excellent youth training institutions through base certifications and cooperative schools, promoting coordinated development of youth training nationwide. On May 29 this year, the Taishan youth training “Starry Sky Plan” project launch and the unveiling ceremony of the Yuncheng youth training base were grandly held at Yuncheng Xiuwen Foreign Language School.

The Jinan base for Taishan youth training is currently in planning, with the goal of building a new youth training center around the Yellow River Sports Center to maintain closer ties with Shandong Taishan Football Club. At the same time, Taishan youth training will strengthen the external development of young players, relying on the existing Brazil overseas sports base to send promising talents abroad for higher-level training and competition experience. Other plans include cooperating with Jinan Foreign Language School to enhance foreign language education, especially in less common languages, to remove language barriers for players’ overseas development.

Taishan youth training currently faces some challenges and shortcomings: first, funding is somewhat tight, and stronger financial support is needed to ensure its long-term sustainability; second, talent selection is often limited, which will be a key focus going forward; third, after continuously supplying excellent coaches to the first team and national teams, Taishan youth training urgently needs to replenish its coaching staff and looks forward to attracting more outstanding coaches, including retired players.