Basketball Bundesliga side Alba Berlin set up office in Beijing

Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) side Alba Berlin has opened its first foreign office in Beijing on Wednesday in hopes of deepening its existing contacts and establishing new partnerships in China with the office.

The club wants to expand its Chinese basketball program through the office in the country's capital. A Chinese speaking employee will from now on support Alba Berlin's activities in the fields of marketing, media and youth exchange in the Far East.

Marco Baldi, the Club Managing Director said, "in order to further expand our German-Chinese basketball program, which we established over the past several years, we want to have a year-round presence."

Alba has been present in China for several years now. In the year of 2011, the team held a training camp in Beijing. Last year, it signed a cooperation deal with the Shanghai and Beijing basketball federations. Since the 2014-15 season, Chinese corporation Zhong De Metal Group has been the club's main and shirt sponsor. The contract is set to expire at the end of the '16-17 season.