Yao Ming eying film business

SHANGHAI - The retired Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming has been looking for business opportunities in the film industry, but has not entered it yet, Yao's agent said Tuesday, responding to media's reports claiming that Yao will set up a film finance fund.

Foreign media report that Jay Cohen, an American film producer, is setting up a film finance fund with Yao Ming, which has caught the attention of China's media and public.

"Yao Ming and our team has not joined or set up any such organizations as the film finance fund," Yao's agent Zhang Mingji told Xinhua, adding that they are open to such kind of business, and are looking for good investment opportunities.

Zhang said, Jay Cohen is a friend of Yao and Yao's team and they have made some discussions on investing in the film industry, but no action has been taken yet.

He went on saying that Yao is currently busy with his study and works in the Shanghai Sharks, ?a Chinese basketball team, and he has no plan to go to the United States to negotiate investing in the film industry.

Yao, 31, announced his retirement on July 20 last year from the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets, the US team who made him a global star, and from the Chinese national team five days later.

Since his retirement, Yao has been back to school studying for a university degree in business management and helping manage the Shanghai Sharks.

In November, he set up a company to sell his own brand of wine, and he sold the first bottle for 150,000 yuan ($23,766) at a charity auction.

Yao is China's first global sports superstar with a personal brand valued at more than $1 billion.