PARIS, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Last weekend's Ligue 1 match between leaders Paris Saint-Germain and Nice attracted a record total of 1.6 million viewers in China, according to French professional football league (LFP).

The highly-anticipated clash was scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. local time (8 p.m. in China), helping to appease Asian fans. The effort has paid off, as LFP announced that through two online platforms and four regional TV channels, the match was followed in total by 1.6 million viewers in China, 16 times higher than the average for a French top-flight league match.

In France, total number of audiences of the match co-broadcasted by Canal+ and beIN Sports also reached 1.18 million, 1.5 times higher than average audience number of the match scheduled on Saturday at 5 p.m..

"The exceptional program at 1 p.m. on Sunday demonstrates growing interest of the Chinese for Ligue 1 matches. It also proves the attractiveness of this schedule for French viewers," said Didier Quillot, Executive Director of the LFP.

"The first successful initiative encourages us to study the issue for next season to be able to repeat this operation two or three times," he added.