Chinese star Yao Ming, a member of the NBA Houston Rockets in his third season, signed an ambassador agreement with the TAG Heuer, announced the Swiss sports watch andchronograph brand on Monday in Houston. £¨Xinhua/AFP/file£©

    "I am genuinely honored to be a part of the TAG Heuer team," Yao Ming told a brief news conference in the Hostonian Hotel Club and Spa.

    "All my life I have admired the great explorers and pioneers. These are characteristics I see in TAG Heuer. I look forward to working closely with the brand on projects in China and around the world," Yao added.

    Yao joined the TAG Heuer Ambassadors that included golfing legend Tiger Woods, rising tennis star Maria Sharapova, Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen, as well as world free diving champion Tanya Streeter.

    "We are delighted Yao has joined the TAG Heuer team," said Jean-Christophe Babin, TAG Heuer's President and Chief Executive Officer, at a signing ceremony last Friday, the video of which was shown to the news conference.

    "Yao is a two-time NBA All-Star and is already described as oneof the best centers to ever play the game," Babin added.

    "Off the court, Yao showed he's not just an agile, multifaceted basketball player and sporting phenomenon, he's also a commercial and social phenomenon of truly global proportions.

    "He travelled back to China to play for the Chinese National Team and host a multinational telethon to raise funds to battle SARS. He is helping change the world's view of modern China," Babin said.

    The contract between TAG Heuer and Yao will begin January 1, 2005, and Yao will soon be showcased extensively in the famous TAGHeuer advertising campaign.

    No details about the agreement were released to the media.

    "It's a long-term contract," said Catherine Hou, brand manager from Shanghai Representative Office of TAG Heuer, the benchmark inprestigious Swiss sports watches and chronographs since 1860 and ranked as the fourth luxury brand in the world watch market.

    "Yao Ming will be directly involved in the development of new TAG Heuer products, and TAG Heuer's strategic partnership with Yaoalso emphasizes its global brand commitment to China where TAG Heuer is already operating more than 50 points of sales including a boutique in Beijing, and is geared up for a strong expansion plan," said Hou.

    TAG Heuer has been developing its new role as official timekeeper and chronograph for the legendary Indy 500 and IRL championship since the Olympic Games in the 1920s, and maintained its cooperation with Team McLaren Mercedes, Woods, Bourdais and Sharapova and so on.

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