SHANGHAI (AFP) - The NBA will play matches in China this year for only the second time in its history, one of which will pit the Chinese national team against Orlando Magic, officials said Thursday.

NBA star Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets shoots a basket during a practice session in August 2006. [AFP]

"Our fans will get to see first hand, exciting match-ups featuring the best young players in the NBA and China," Heidi Ueberroth, president of global operations for the NBA, said in Shanghai.

Led by forward Dwight Howard, the Magic will meet the Chinese national team in the former Portuguese colony of Macau following a fixture against the playoff-bound Cleveland Cavaliers.

The three games scheduled for between October 17-20 will first tip-off in Shanghai, home of Houston Rockets star centre Yao Ming, pitting the Magic against LeBron James's Cavaliers.

The exhibition games are the NBA's second fixtures in China as the top basketball league looks to expand its fan base in the world's most populous nation.

In 2004, Chinese fans saw Yao and his Houston Rockets play two matches in Shanghai and Beijing amid much hype for the potential scheduling of annual exhibition games in basketball-mad China.

The games were the first here by any American professional sports league and the first Chinese appearance by an NBA club since Washington played China's national team in 1979.