The NBA's Sacramento Kings have invited China's national team point guard Liu Wei, a close team-mate of Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, to their fall training camp.

The move could make the 24-year-old Liu the first Chinese guard to join the world's elite basketball league.

The 1.90 meter Liu Wei will be invited to try out for the Kings in September following the Athens Olympics.

He will also play for the NBA team during two pre-season games in Shanghai and Beijing against the Houston Rockets in mid-October.

The two pre-season games will be the first-ever National Basketball Association games in China.

Liu has played for the Shanghai Sharks in the China Basketball Association and once teamed with NBA All Star Yao Ming, when he also played for the Sharks.

Yao now plays for the Houston Rockets and is China's third player in the NBA after Wang Zhizhi of the Miami Heat and Menk Bateer, who played for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in 2003.

All three play the center position.

(CRI July 14, 2004)