The NBA is considering playing regular-season games in China, where such stars as Yao Ming have boosted the popularity of the game.

The league will use preseason games planned for Beijing and Shanghai in October 2004 to test facilities and travel arrangements, Marc Fischer, the league's Hong Kong-based managing director for Asia, said Friday.

Fischer, who was in Beijing for promotional events, told reporters a definite plan is not yet in place.

"A major factor is how teams feel about coming all this way," he said.

Yao, the center for the Houston Rockets (news), and other Chinese stars like Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer have brought a surge of interest in basketball.

Chinese national TV shows two NBA games a week while fans in Shanghai, where Yao starred before joining the NBA, can see as many as six a week.

This year the NBA launched a Chinese-language Web site. The league also publishes a Chinese version of its official magazine and has a Beijing office.

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