NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said ­developing youth ­basketball was the main ­priority in China as he paid his first international trip there as head of the NBA.

The NBA launched an after-school basketball training and fitness program in cooperation with former Chinese basketball star Yao Ming in China earlier this year, named the NBA Yao School. The program is intended to teach children and teenagers the importance of teamwork, leadership and communication.

Before attending a media meeting on Friday, Silver visited the NBA Yao School near the Wukesong facility in Beijing on Thursday.

"I was so encouraged to see so many young boys and girls playing basketball and enjoying themselves with top notch structures," said Silver.

Silver said several parents told him the program was very meaningful for their children, including one mother told him that the program help build her son's confidence.

Silver also met on ­Thursday with Liu Yandong, ­China's Vice-Premier, ­discussing people-to-people exchanges and the promotion of youth basketball throughout China.

Liu expressed her hopes at the meeting that the NBA would continue to cooperate with its Chinese counterpart, the CBA, help the popularizing of basketball in China and help establish better relationship between the two countries, ­according to Xinhua.

"I first met with Madam Liu at a Chicago Bulls game in Chicago at the past November. At that time we discussed the exchange of basketball coaches and know-how from the NBA to China," Silver told reporters.

The past few years have witnessed numerous Chinese coaches receiving training under a joint coaching program launched by the NBA and CBA, including Min Lulei, head coach of reigning CBA champions the Beijing Ducks.

Sports has been playing a unique role in boosting Sino-US relations since "ping-pong diplomacy" in the early 1970s helped pave the way for then US President Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing.

Silver, who succeeded David Stern as the NBA ­Commissioner earlier in ­February, was scheduled to visit China in May, but was ­delayed due to handling his "biggest" challenge since ­becoming the commissioner.

His hurdle was Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, who made racist remarks about African-Americans in late April. He then was banned from the league for life and fined $2.5 million by Silver.

With the global expansion of the NBA, more and more oversea players have swooped into the league. Some have argued that this shuts young American talent out of the sport. The San Antonio Spurs, the 2013-14 champions who have nine foreign-born players­ on their roster, are often pointed to as an example.

But Silver said the NBA also focuses on the youth development. Jerry Colangelo, director of USA Basketball, and Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of USA national basketball team, are among Silver's list of ­collaborators in youth training in the US.

Silver told the Global Times that he hopes the NBA can export these programs to China in working with Liu and the CBA.

The NBA has scheduled two preseason games in China, as the Brooklyn Nets and the ­Sacramento Kings will ­brighten Shanghai's Mercedes-Benz Arena on October 12 before heading to Beijing's MasterCard Center three days later. A regular season game has been already under consideration but is still yet to happen due to some remaining reluctance from teams and players, according to Silver.