The National Basketball Association today announced the formation of NBA China, a new entity that will conduct all of the league’s businesses in Greater China.

Five strategic partners will invest $253 million to acquire 11% of the company in preferred equity. The strategic partners are an elite group of exceptionally prominent and successful entities: ESPN, a division of The Walt Disney Company, Bank of China Group Investment, Legend Holdings Limited, Li Ka Shing Foundation and China Merchants Investments.

"The opportunity for basketball and the NBA in China is simply extraordinary,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “The expertise, resources and shared vision of these immensely successful companies will help us to achieve the potential we see in the region. The strategic investment from these companies will allow us to continue working with the General Administration of Sports and the Chinese Basketball Association to grow our sport and emphasize, in both rural and urban Chinese communities, its contributions to fitness, healthy lifestyle and an appreciation of teamwork.”

“I would like to congratulate the NBA on forming NBA China,” said Mr. Li Yuanwei, Chinese Basketball Association Executive Vice President and Secretary General. “With the support of its strategic investors and additional investments in China, I think the NBA and the CBA can expand upon our past cooperation to further develop basketball in China.”

Tim Chen, the former CEO of Microsoft Greater China, joined the NBA on October 15, 2007, and will lead the new entity as its CEO. NBA China will be governed by a Board of Directors that will include representatives of the strategic investors as well as Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon, Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and NBA executives Adam Silver, Deputy Commissioner and COO, Heidi Ueberroth, President of Global Marketing Partnerships and International Business Operations, and Commissioner Stern.

The NBA has interacted with Chinese basketball for decades, including first hosting the Chinese National team in 1985 and regularly providing training for the Team through U.S. coaching clinics, exhibition matches against NBA Development League teams and an invitation to the 2007 NBA Summer League. The NBA currently has relationships with 51 Chinese telecasters including a partnership of more than 20 years with national broadcaster CCTV, has organized hundreds of touring basketball events for fans and currently maintains 16 marketing partnerships with a combination of Chinese-based corporations and U.S.-based multinationals.

The NBA opened its Hong Kong office in 1992 and currently employs 100 people in four offices in Greater China. NBA.com/China has become the most popular single sports site in China and NBA is consistently the most searched sports term on Baidu.com, the top search engine in China. More than 500 unique NBA products are available in China at Wal-Mart, Carrefour, adidas stores and many other retail locations. The NBA became the first American sports league to stage games in China in 2004 with the NBA China Games 2004 in Beijing and Shanghai. The league returned this season for NBA China Games 2007, three preseason games played in Shanghai and Macao.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as strategic advisor to NBA China and as exclusive placement agent for the offering. Proskauer Rose LLP acted as the legal advisor for NBA China.

About the NBA

The NBA, founded in 1946, is a global sports and entertainment brand that features 30 teams in the United States and Canada. During the 2007-08 season, the NBA will distribute games and programming to 215 countries and territories in 41 languages. The league’s worldwide reach can also be seen with 77 international players from 30 countries and territories on NBA rosters.

As fans witness tremendous performances on the court, some of the NBA’s most significant efforts occur off the court. NBA Cares is the league's social responsibility initiative that builds on the NBA's long tradition of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world. Through this umbrella program, the NBA, its teams and players have committed to donating $100 million to charity, providing a million hours of hands on service to the community and creating 250 places where kids and families can live, learn or play. NBA Cares works with internationally-recognized youth-serving programs that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes, including: UNICEF; the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

About ESPN

ESPN, Inc. is the world's leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring a portfolio of over 50 multimedia sports assets. The company is comprised of six domestic television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU), ESPN and ESPN2 HD simulcast services, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International (34 networks, syndication, radio, web sites), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN PPV, ESPN Zones (sports-themed restaurants), and other growing new businesses including ESPN360.com (Broadband), ESPN Mobile Properties, ESPN on Demand and ESPN Interactive. Based in Bristol, Ct., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.

About The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with four business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products. Disney is a Dow 30 company with annual revenues of over $35 billion in its most recent fiscal year.

About Bank of China Group Investment

Bank of China Group Investment Limited ("BOCGI") is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of China Limited ("BOC"), which is one of the four largest commercial banks in the PRC in terms of total assets with the most extensive international branch network among PRC commercial banks.

During twenty years of painstaking efforts and development, BOCGI has been actively expanding its businesses by relying on the abundant capital and extensive business contacts that BOC has. BOCGI has invested in a great number of projects in the Greater China area and overseas, covering such sectors as infrastructures, media, real estate, industry, energy, transportation, hotels and finance. BOCGI has thus achieved successes and gained rich experience, created its own unique skills, developed a brand image in strategic investment areas.

About Legend Holdings Limited

Legend Holdings Ltd. was established in 1984 with 11 researchers and an investment of RMB200,000 from the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2006, turnover of Legend Holdings reached RMB 138.9 billion, total assets of RMB 65.1 billion.

As a strategy-driven investment holding company, Legend Holdings adopts the parent-subsidiary governance structure composing of several core business subsidiaries, including Lenovo, Digital China, Legend Capital, Hony Capital and Raycom Real Estate, covering three major industries-IT, equity investment and real estate development. Meanwhile, Legend Holdings firmly seizes opportunities for business development and actively explores new orientations for industrial development. Legend Holdings is committed to being an influential, ever lasting international investment holding company.

About Li Ka Shing Foundation

For almost three decades, The Li Ka Shing Foundation has sought to enhance the impact of its philanthropy through two strategic objectives: to nurture a culture of giving and to foster creativity, constructive engagement, and sustainability through supporting capacity empowerment focused projects. The Li Ka Shing Foundation and other private charitable foundations established by Mr. Li have supported grants, sponsorships, and commitments of over HKD8.5 billion.

For further information, please visit: www.lksf.org

About China Merchants Investments

China Merchants Investments is an investment company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 1993. The China Merchants Group is the single largest shareholder of China Merchants Investments.

The China Merchants Group is a conglomerate and was founded in 1872. She now holds substantial equity interests in a number of leading enterprises in Asia, including China Merchants Bank.