(Yicai) June 13 -- Five Chinese companies, including financial technology giant Ant Group and new energy vehicle maker BYD, have become official sponsors of the Union of European Football Associations’ European Soccer Championship.

UEFA announced on June 11 that the top goalscorer trophy of Euro 2024 will be named after Alipay+, the cross-border payment site under Ant, for the second consecutive edition.

UEFA Euro 2024 will be held in Germany from tomorrow to July 14, with 24 teams competing. A total of 51 matches will be played in 10 cities. The competition has 13 official sponsors.

“Six years ago, Ant started working with UEFA to make mobile payment accepted globally, just like soccer,” said Jing Xiandong, chairman and chief executive officer of Ant. “We have been using technologies to bring better experiences and global development opportunities to every consumer and merchant.”

BYD is sponsoring a European Soccer Championship for the first time ever. The Shenzhen-based company has been recently expanding abroad. Last year, BYD’s overseas sales surged 334 percent to 242,765 units from the year before, reaching more than 70 countries and regions worldwide, including 19 European countries.

The other three Chinese companies sponsoring the Euro 2024 are television giant Hisense, mobile phone maker Vivo Communication Technology, and Alibaba Group Holding’s cross-border e-commerce platform AliExpress.

Hisense sponsored the Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup and the UEFA European Soccer Championship for five consecutive editions as part of its strategy to expand overseas. Hisense was the world’s second-largest TV maker in the first quarter of the year after selling 6.2 million sets, with its shipments to Europe up 36 percent from a year earlier, according to data from AVC Revo.

Last European Soccer Championship’s edition, short-video platform TikTok was also among the Chinese sponsors.

Editor: Futura Costaglione