[File Photo]

With the enthusiasm that was stirred up by the two inaugural National Basketball Association (NBA) China Games, and Beijing's reported RMB 5,000,000 (US$625,000) earnings, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) has realized the great value of a successful league and has begun to look out for its own future as well.

On Saturday, the CBA launched its 10-year development plan for the China professional basketball league, "the North Star Project", at an International Basketball Forum in Beijing.

To be implemented next year, the project plans in ten years' time to make the CBA the best league in Asia, even to rank among the world's top leagues and setting up a powerful, profitable CBA brand.

"Although the CBA is one of the top leagues in China, it still has many problems," said Li Yuanwei, vice-president and secretary general of the CBA. "These problems include the fact that the owner of the clubs are not that clear about things, which stops the CBA from working properly with the economic marketing system; the management of the players' salary and bonuses are inefficient; broadcasting and publicity doesn't work effectively and there is still a lack of high-level managers.

"With the coming of the tenth season and the growing popularity of basketball, thanks in part to the emergence of Houston Rocket's Chinese centre Yao Ming, it's time for us to consider the CBA's development carefully."

Li said the North Star Project would make the league more international, professional and standardized

Learning from the top world leagues, such as the NBA, the National Football League (NFL), the Major League Baseball (MLB) and the English Premier League, the Project has listed a series of steps.

The 2004-25 season will serve as a transitional period, in which large-scale reforms will be carried out.

In the forthcoming season, all clubs will be divided into north and south areas, with the total number of matches per season reaching 317, 155 more than before.

The CBA will employ professional PR companies to promote the league and increase the number of matches broadcast live.

"We hope to make CBA an advanced league with its own brand to serve fans, media and sponsors," said Li.

"We also hope to enlarge the player selection range for our national team through raising the league level."

The Basketball Administrative Centre is looking forward to a perfect player reserve system, which is based on the middle school league, with the Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA), Chinese Basketball League (CBL), CBA and national team stepping up higher and higher.

"We hope the professional league and non-professional league could benefit each other and make their own efforts to raise the level of Chinese basketball together," Li said. The Project will start from next year. From 2005 to 2008, the CBA Company will be set up and strict qualifying standards for clubs implemented. Between 2009 and 2012, a shareholding system will be put in place, in which a series of marketing systems will be set up. In the 2013-15 period, the reforms will be consolidated.

"We hope that in ten years' time, the CBA will be the best league in Asia and even one of the best in the world with its own brand," Li said. "We hope basketball will earn China more medals in international competitions as well." 

(China Daily)

inaugural : initial; first（开始的）

shareholding: （股权的，股份的）