NBA China, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports have jointly announced on Monday the launch of the first Junior NBA Basketball League in China, according to the official website of NBA China.

It’s a school-based league for high school students, consisting of 30 boys’ and 18 girls’ teams. Similar to NBA, teams in the league will be divided into East Conference and West Conference. Each team will play eight games during the regular season and top eight teams from each conference will advance to the playoffs in January and then four teams will fight for the champion of the league in March. The inaugural season of the league will start from November 24.

"The passion for basketball is at an all-time high and the newly created junior league further demonstrates our commitment to growing the game in China," NBA China CEO David Shoemaker said at the launching ceremony.

"Through these strategic partnerships with the Beijing education commission and sports bureau, we will create more opportunities to provide fun and positive activities that will have a long-lasting impact on youth in the Beijing community."

The launch of the league is an important part of the existing partnership between NBA China and the Ministry of Education in the effort to promote the development of basketball in primary and secondary schools as well as universities.

Source: NBA China