China

Chinese investment holding company Daohe Group has agreed a sponsorship deal with endurance motor racing championship the Asian Le Mans Series.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) has strengthened its relationship with Tencent by agreeing a nine-year global sponsorship deal with the Chinese internet company.

US sports equipment manufacturer Xenith has agreed a supplier partnership with the China Arena Football League, the country’s first professional American football league.

Financial services company JP Morgan added to its squash portfolio over the weekend by serving as the title sponsor of the China Squash Open event.

Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna has entered into a partnership with the Chinese Football Association.

Chinese insurance company Ping An has upgraded its partnership with the Chinese Football Association.

Swiss stamping technology company Bruderer has entered into an Asian-focused partnership with German Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund.

Consumer electronics company Pisen has agreed a deal to become the title sponsor of Chinese Basketball Association team Sichuan Blue Whales.

Chinese Super League football club Guangzhou Evergrande has been ordered to pay Dongfeng Nissan CNY24.7m (€3.3m/$3.8m) after breaching its shirt sponsorship agreement with the automotive company, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

World Snooker has unveiled Chinese brand Kunlunshan as its new official water partner.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) expects to at least double its sponsorship revenues in the first cycle of its recently-revamped sponsorship structure for national team matches, and to enjoy substantial cycle-on-cycle growth, through to 2031.

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba is in talks with Fifa over becoming a top-tier sponsor of football’s world governing body, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

PepsiCo-owned isotonic drinks brand Gatorade has entered into a partnership with the Chinese division of American football league the NFL.

Home entertainment brand Whaley has become the latest Chinese company to partner with English Premier League football club Manchester City.

Chinese lighting supplier PAK Lighting has entered into a partnership with English Premier League football club Manchester City.

The Chinese Football Association has signed a four-year extension to its partnership with the Yanjing Beer brand.

The 16 member clubs of the Chinese Super League (CSL) are at a critical stage in the development of their commercial programmes. They are attempting to move away from a funding model based almost entirely on the patronage of the large Chinese corporations which own them to one based on revenues from sponsorship deals with major global brands, media rights income and match-day revenues.

“Have you been to China recently?” I ask this because the question is really a kind of shorthand for a different sort of enquiry, that is to say: is your sports, brand or agency connected to the potentially vast quantities of money that will be spent on sport by both the public and private sector in China over the next few years?