Beijing, June 16 (IANS): China's Wanda Group will be the exclusive partner of the Federation of International Basketball (FIBA) for their worldwide sponsorship, the sale of licensing rights and global marketing for the period of four basketball World Cups upto 2033.

At a signing ceremony here on Thursday, both FIBA and Wanda announced that their long term partnership will start with immediate effect and cover all FIBA-sanctioned activities including the men's and women's World Cups, Continental Cups as well as the Youth World Championships, reports Xinhua.

"This strategic partnership is of significant importance to us," said FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann, also a member of the International Olympic Committee.

"It is another tangible result of FIBA's ambitions to accelerate the growth by unlocking the true potential of national team basketball, bringing the game to a new level globally and tapping into emerging markets in Asia, US and Africa.

"It confirms the strong commitment of Wanda to basketball and to support FIBA's objective of making basketball the most popular sports community not only in China but also worldwide."

The partnership will see the creation of FIBA marketing, a cooperation between the world basketball body and Wanda's Infront team, which will focus on further developing the awareness and value of team basketball on a global basis. The company also committed significant resources to the success of the basketball World Cup 2019 in China.

Wang Jianlin, chairman of the Wanda Group, said that "the strategic partnership is another major development that Wanda has made in the sports industry. Wanda will fully leverage its own influence, as well as Infront's expertise, to raise basketball globally, and in China, to new heights."