Chinese director Li Piyue flies in to flesh out West Brom's future with chief executive Mark Jenkins

Li is owner Guochuan Lai’s representative on the board, and is expected to be installed as chairman this summer.

Over the next few days he is due to flesh out the future blueprint of the club with Jenkins.

The starting point of this process will be the chief executive’s report from his root-and-branch review into the club, and his recommendations for the summer ahead.

Although these meetings will be going on behind-the-scenes, and will only involve a few people at a time, it is destined to be an important week for the Baggies that will shape their immediate future.

Albion’s search for a new head coach will be at the top of a varied agenda, which will also take into consideration the futures of players and staff once the club’s inevitable relegation is confirmed.

Depending on what Li and Jenkins decide, Li could be confirmed as chairman soon after.

Based in Sweden, Li is a Palm representative in Europe. A trusted business associate who has worked with Lai at the eco-town company for the past 17 years, he has been the conduit between owner and club for the past 18 months.

His English is stronger than most of the other members in Lai’s team, and he has been to more games than the Shanghai-based owner has.

This week’s trip is seen as the starting point of a closer relationship between the board and China.

Guochuan Lai has been an absent owner for much of his time in charge, since he bought the club from Jeremy Peace in the summer of 2016 for around £175million.

But after being disappointed with how former chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman ran the club, he has decided to exert more control on proceedings.

Last month Jenkins acknowledged there had been too much distance between the club and its Chinese owners.

Albion’s chief executive has already been to China to speak at Palm’s annual general meeting, but that was essentially a progress report to a parent company.

This week’s talks are far more detailed, designed to shape the club’s approach to the summer ahead and the challenge of the Championship.

Jenkins’s return to the club brought with it rumours of Lai selling his 88 per cent majority stake back to Peace.

The club have waved away this suggestion, and insist Lai remains committed to the Baggies, despite the team’s inevitable relegation.

Lai bought Albion because it was a secure Premier League club, with the gravitas capable of helping him win housing contracts in China.

He already has plans in place to build six ‘West Bromwich Albion soccer towns’ in China.

However, these talks between Li and Jenkins, and Li's likely appointment as chairman in the summer, suggests that rather than walking away, China is determined to have more of a say.