NBA Hall of Famer Yao Ming has been elected as the chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association following the organization's ninth national congress.
Yao, 37, became the first-ever non-governmental candidate to lead the association, which was founded in 1956. The congress has also altered the CBA Charter, making president the association's legal representative, a task formally performed by the secretary-general.
As one of the sports icons in China, Yao was selected first overall in the 2002 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets and played for nine years in the league while being named to the all-star game eight times.
He also led the Chinese national team to the last eight at 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Games. In 2009, Yao bought the Shanghai Sharks, the CBA club where he played as a teenager.
In 2016, Yao was elected as the vice president of the newly-established CBA company which is in charge of the league's management and business development.
Since his retirement in 2011, Yao has been pursuing reforms of professional basketball in China. Right after the election, Yao said that he would sell his shares in the CBA Shanghai Sharks before next season.
