THE National Basketball Association has formed a Chinese arm, NBA China, to enhance the professional league's presence in the country.

Five strategic investors - ESPN, the US sports cable television channel, Bank of China Group Investment, Legend Holdings Limited, Li Ka Shing Foundation and China Merchants Investments - will acquire a total of 11 percent of the company for a combined US$253 million in preferred equity.

Timothy Chen, a former chief executive officer of Microsoft China, is the CEO of the new company.

"NBA China will develop a wide range of businesses to expand its presence, including Internet, entertainment and new NBA franchise stores," Chen told Shanghai Daily yesterday in a telephone interview.

The company's revenue will maintain a double digit growth as well as its scale of employment - it now has about 100 staff in China, he said.

"The company now focuses on online live broadcasts, the online community and online services on mobile phones," Chen said.

The establishment of NBA China will not change the way it operates at present as in its cooperation with local TV stations, he said.

The NBA enjoys great popularity in China, where it became the first American sports league to play games in 2004.

"More games can be expected in China after last year's exhibition games in Shanghai and Macau," Chen said.

NBA has become one of the most influential foreign games in China after four local players Wang Zhizhi, Mengke Bateer, Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian began playing in the NBA. The absence of these players can slash the NBA's TV ratings in China.

In November, the game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets drew massive TV ratings in November as Yao played against Yi for the first time in NBA history.

The game aired on 19 Chinese mainland television stations and was available on two Webcasts and on video-enabled wireless phones.