NBA China announced on Wednesday a RMB 10 million (US$ 1.6 million) pledge in a joint effort with the Chinese Ministry of Education to build and refurbish public basketball courts across China. The pledge expands the existing partnership between NBA China and the Ministry of Education to promote basketball education and youth development in elementary, middle, high schools and universitiesin China.

The pledge was formalizedat a signing ceremony yesterday by NBA China CEO David Shoemaker and ChineseVice Minister of Education Hao Ping at the US-China High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) in Washington, D.C.

As part of the initial rollout of the expanded partnership, the NBA recently announced the creation of three public basketball courts with ground-breaking ceremonies at the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, the Longgang Universiade Center in Shenzhen, and the High-Tech Sports Center in Chongqing.

"The NBA is delighted to be part of the sixth Consultation on People-to-People Exchange, and we are ready to take our youth development efforts to the next level with this RMB 10 million investment to build basketball courts throughout China," said Shoemaker."We thank the Chinese Ministry of Education for its partnership, which demonstrates our mutual commitment to growing the sport of basketball in China."

Representing Chinese student basketball talent, the Tsinghua High School Varsity team was in Houston June 16-21 attending six days of basketball clinics conducted byHouston Rockets Player Development Coach Kevin Burleson. The students also participated in scrimmagesand various community visits.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, Hao, and Shoemaker, along with NBA Legends Yao Ming and Robert Horry, attended and observed the basketball exchange between the Tsinghua High School Varsity team and Houston Select U18 Boys team on June 21 at the Toyota Center in Houston.