Yao Ming, Chinese basketball legend and chairman of Shanghai Sharks, has officially served as the chairman and general manager of China Professional Basketball Club United Inc founded last month, a source told Xinhua on Thursday.

Yao will be the transitional general manager to communicate between the China Professional Basketball Club United Inc and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), added the source.

The company was founded on Feb. 14, 2016 with registered assets of 45 million RMB (about 7 million US dollars). The legal representative is Yao Ming.

During the 2015-2016 CBA All-Star weekend, investors from 18 out of 20 CBA league clubs (Shanxi and Zhejiang excluded) held a meeting on Jan. 16, in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. As the representatives signed the legal documents for the registration of the incorporated company, the business registration process officially began.

One of the most important appeals of the incorporated company is to acquire the business rights and promotional rights of the CBA league in its next contract period .

However, office director of the CBA league, Zhang Xiong, replied on behalf of CBA three days after the meeting that the two-step reform project of the government regulation separating from management has been approved. The first step will see the authorization of the business rights and promotional rights to the CBA company, which is invested by CBA and 20 clubs. The second will be the authorization of organization and other rights of the competitions. After the end of authorization, the CBA company will take full charge of the operation while CBA will be responsible for supervision, management and professional guidance.

According to Zhang Xiong, the CBA company and the China Professional Basketball Club United Inc are legally irrelevant. But he also added that cooperation could be achieved based on consensus to cultivate talents and maximize the market efficiency.