The champions of the China Basketball Association league will be rewarded with diamond rings from the 2004-05 season.

Director of China Basketball Administration Li Yuanwei says every coach and player of the champions' sides will get one diamond ring worth hundreds of thousands of Yuan.

He says the new CBA season is to start this Sunday with a new look after a series of changes and reforms to its regulations. 

"Compared with the previous seasons, I think our league has more new ideas and is more challenging and more hopeful. We are confident to run the league well."

Li Yuanwei says the CBA league is for the first time divided into north and south divisions, each having seven teams.

He says CBA has also created a spokesman system to boost communication between clubs and the audiences, in which the China Basketball Association and each club will have their own spokespersons.

(CRI November 9, 2004)