The NBA plans to go east and expand in the World’s most populous country, China.

Although the Chinese exaggerated when they claimed of having 300 million basketball players (as much as the entire population of the US) on thing is sure: more and more citizens of the communist country become fans of basketball teams and players activating in the US.

Houston Rockets’ center Yao Ming is certainly a key factor which stirred interest for the sport he plays through imposing billboards, soft drinks and other products with his image all over the country.

Recent statistics show that of 15- to 24 year-olds 83 per cent are NBA fans, and don’t forget to relate that to China’s population of 1.3 billion. Now that’s a vast advertisement base for all sorts for consumer products.

Still not convinced? Twenty per cent of the traffic to the website NBA.com, which also has a Mandarin version, is from China. NBA games are televised on China's 51 TV stations and NBA merchandise is available to fans in more than 50,000 locations.

But with a population as numerous as China’s, there’s still much more to do and earn. So the NBA has set up a Chinese subsidiary and, on Wednesday, hired one of the most productive businessmen in China - Tim Chen - to lead it.

Former Motorola executive in China and CEO of Microsoft China, Chen’s first major task is to establish a Chinese NBA league, in cooperation with the existing domestic basketball league, run by the Chinese Basketball Association.

"The NBA is a truly exceptional brand with a huge fan base that reaches across all parts of China," said the Taiwanese-born Chen.

"I'm thrilled by the scope of this opportunity.”

Chen will take on his new job on October 15, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced.

"Tim Chen is a proven business leader who has guided the dramatic growth of two Fortune 100 businesses in China," said Stern.

"Tim is the ideal person to lead NBA China as we expand our infrastructure and operations to meet the growing interest from fans and consumers throughout the region."

The board of directors of the NBA China will consist of NBA owners, representatives of outside investors as well as Commissioner Stern and Heidi Ueberroth, NBA president of global marketing partnerships and international business operations.

Chen will have a staff of 80 in the offices of Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The NBA planned about 170 special events in 112 Chinese cities including the NBA China Games 2007, three pre-season games in Shanghai and Macao in October. The Cleveland Cavaliers will take on the Orlando magic in Shanghai and on the Chinese national team on October 17 and 18.