Chinese center Zhou Qi will play for the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) for the 2022-23 season, the player announced on Sina Weibo on Tuesday.

"New season, same and old Melbourne, same and old goal of winning," Zhou posted. "I will continue [to] play on the South East Melbourne Phoenix and compete for a good result. I was moved by the team's sincerity and persistence during the offseason. I still remember the friendship we built together last season. I'm looking forward to seeing fans in Australia again."

Zhou also expressed gratitude toward the Phoenix's CEO and general manager Tommy Greer and head coach Simon Mitchell. The 2022-23 NBL regular season will begin on October 1 and end on February 5, 2023.

Zhou played for the team during the 2021-22 season and he averaged 11.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 rebounds. When he returned to the Chinese national team from Australia, he was much more used to tussling with others and forcing his way toward the basket. Such improvements made him the best-performing player of China in the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers and the FIBA Asia Cup.

The last time Zhou played in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) was in the 2020-21 season for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. After that, he and the team failed to reach an agreement over his future in the league. Zhou wanted to leave for another Chinese club but Xinjiang refused to let him go without a satisfactory compensation from the team that wants to sign him. In the end, Zhou left for the NBL.

The same scenario happened again during this offseason between Zhou and the Flying Tigers. The team reportedly wanted 24 million yuan (about $3.3 million) plus an All-Star player for Zhou. Zhou didn't sign a contract with the Flying Tigers or join any other CBA team in the end. He said he will explore opportunities to play overseas before announcing his arrival at the Phoenix again on Tuesday.