Yao Ming Appointed to Shanghai Government’s Top Advisory Body
January 10, 2012, 11:34 PM ESTBy Bloomberg News
Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Former Chinese basketball star Yao Ming was appointed a member of the Shanghai municipal government’s top advisory body, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The 7-foot-6-inch Yao attended the opening ceremony for the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference today after being appointed to the body in December, Xinhua reported. The body offer suggestions for the implementation of rules, policies and other government functions.
Yao, China’s most-popular athlete, has worked as an analyst on television broadcasts of basketball games and introduced his own brand of wines in China since retiring in July from the Houston Rockets. Forbes Magazine ranked Yao, who has appeared in advertising for PepsiCo Inc., Reebok International Ltd. and Apple Inc., China’s most-popular celebrity for six consecutive years through 2009. He was ranked fifth on Forbes’s 2011 list, which was topped by Hong Kong actor Andy Lau.
As a member of the advisory body, Yao said he would pay special attention to issues regarding education and sports, Xinhua reported. Yao is a native of Shanghai.
--Editor: John Liu
To contact Bloomberg News staff on this story: Alfred Cang in Shanghai at acang@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Liu in Beijing at jliu42@bloomberg.net
