(Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)

The 2025 Jiangsu Football City League has recently surged in popularity both online and in stadiums, with Gao Chi of the Suqian team currently leading the scoring chart with five goals.

The standout player clarified in an interview that he is not a truck driver, as speculated on social media, but rather a high school student. The young player scored twice in the first round, netted a goal three minutes into the second round, and added two more in the third round.

Gao comes from a modest rural family, yet his parents are highly supportive of his football aspirations.

Gao plans to study at Kunming University of Science and Technology after the tournament, hoping to give back to his hometown in the future.

The league is co-hosted by Jiangsu Provincial Sports Department and the governments of 13 cities in the province, each represented by a team.

Since its opening on May 10, the league has attracted widespread attention for fostering a sense of community and city pride. The average attendance for the first two rounds reached 8,798 spectators per match, surpassing the average for the Chinese Football League A during the same period. By the third round, average attendance exceeded 10,000, with several stadiums seeing crowds of over 20,000, and online viewership also hitting new highs.