By hitching its brand to soccer's biggest stars, Red Pagoda hopes to revive its fortunes amid foreign competition
David Beckham and Ronaldo do not know it but, as they kick and head footballs to each other at the national training centre in Kunming, they may be the only ones who can help the king of China's tobacco industry keep his crown.
It was money from the Red Pagoda Group - eight million yuan (HK$7.49 million) according to mainland media but the firm is not saying - that persuaded Real Madrid to spend a week in China and play a friendly game against a Chinese team in Beijing on Saturday.
It is the first time one of Europe's top soccer teams has spent such a long time in China and evidence of the importance Real Madrid attaches to that market.
The tobacco firm, which is based in the nearby city of Yuxi and produces China's most famous cigarette, the Red Pagoda Hill (hong ta shan), has turned the event into a media circus, with blanket coverage on television and in print media and thousands of fans coming each day to the centre to see the team train.
'We have bought the right to use for six months the images of Real's star players. In addition, we have the group's name on all the team's activities during its time here, including the game on Saturday. A week after the game, we will auction the team's shirts, signed by the players, and other items and donate the money to the Red Cross,' a Red Pagoda spokesman said.