League reaches for the stars thanks to Yao's bold reforms

Editor's note: This is the first in a China Daily series examining the progress of national sports reform over the past five years.

Chinese basketball will begin a brave new era of top-tier professionalism when the new CBA season tips off on Oct 28.

Retired former NBA All-Star and CBA chairman Yao Ming has masterminded a series of wide-ranging reforms as the league leaves its previous State-run model behind.

The CBA was formerly run by government officials promoted from within the country's sports administrative system. They exercised complete control over all facets of the professional game, from on-court governance to development strategies and commercial operations.

However, the new CBA League (Beijing) Sports Co, encompassing all 20 clubs, will now manage the league akin to how team owners and executives run the NBA.

"The upcoming 23rd season of the CBA marks a new beginning for our domestic league as it will be the first time it will stand on its own and be operated with a fully professional approach," said Yao, the first CBA chief drawn from outside government ranks.

Yao, who retired from the NBA in 2011 due to injury, stressed the CBA will now put the clubs' interests at its core.

"Our attitude will be to help every participant benefit from the league operation so we can improve as a whole to boost the game's development at every level," he said.

"We should allow the league to operate through an enterprise model in a market-oriented environment without as much administrative intervention as we used to have."