New league to pitch baseball into a brighter future

With the new league building on the excitement of the just-concluded 2025 National Games baseball tournament, the sport's governing body stays bullish on lifting baseball's profile to the next level in China.

"The CPB league was born at the right time, benefiting from the National Games momentum and the shared passion of baseball enthusiasts," Xie Bin, a vice-chairman of the Chinese Baseball Association, said during the news conference on Wednesday.

"Building on this advantage, we expect the league to flourish step by step, first promoting participation in the sport as a short-term goal, with a long-term ambition of developing into a professional program, which will help us narrow the gap with international powerhouses and pave a sustainable path for baseball development in China."