The Chinese Basketball Association or CBA is the leading professional basketball league in China. It should not be confused with CBL or the Chinese Basketball League because this is a division II minor league.
The CBA began play in 1995 but was founded in 1956. It withdrew from FIBA but was later on reinstated back in 1974. The CBA is a non-governmental organization in charge of basketball at a national level. A subdivision of the CBA known as The China Basketball Administration Center is responsible for promoting the sport in the country.
| Sport | Basketball |
| Country |
China 
|
| Founded | 1956 |
| Teams | 2 |
| Teams promoted / relegated | 0 |
After introducing some reforms to the league in 1994, the league was launched with 12 participating teams. By the year 2000, there were 43 men’s teams and 42 women’s team participating in the CBA.
The first American to play in the CBA was James Hodges in 1996. Now, a limited number of foreign players are allowed to play for each CBA team. Several CBA players have also reached international status such Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue and Mengke Bateer who all play for the NBA. The regulating body for basketball in the People’s Republic of China is the Chinese Basketball Management Center or CBMC.
The names for each team in the CBA have to observe a standard structure consisting of three parts. The first part of the name should refer to geographical destination. The second part should refer to a corporate sponsor name while the third part usually stands for the nickname.
In the year 2005, the CBA unveiled the “Mou Zuoyun Cup”. This was awarded to the winning team in the finals. Mou Zuoyon was born on 1913 and was a member of the Chinese basketball team at the 196 Summer Olympics. He later served as coach and became one of the individuals to pioneer the building of Chinese basketball.