Two-time NBA regular season MVP Steve Nash and Carmelo Anthony arrived in Beijing on Wednesday evening for a charity game slated for Friday.

"We know that the NBA league has hundreds of thousands of supporters from China, it is our pleasure to be here to give back to the Chinese community and help some poor children in the country," said Nash at the press conference held in the Regent Hotel.

"Thank you all for coming all the way from the United States to support us," said Yao Ming, who launched the charity game along with Nash. "I hope it can be a good start and we can do more for the children in need in the future."

Yao, Nash, Anthony, Baron Davis, Leandro Barbosa and five other NBA players will be joined by players from the Chinese national team in the charity game.

All the income of the charity game will be donated to help improve educational environment for poor children in west China.

(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2007)