 Therefore, he and his good friend Shen Si, who was also a national football player, launched a local football club called Shanghai Lucky Star Youth Football Club, with the goal to develop the super football player for china.Qi Hong would be called up into the Chinese senior squad in 1998 where he would establish himself as a regular known for his outstanding football awareness and technical ability rather than his physical strength.During his time with the national team he and fellow Shanghai team members, Fan Zhiyi and Xie Hui were called "The Three Musketeers".