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Yao, 37 years old, became the first-ever non-governmental candidate to take the position of the 9th national congress of the association, which was founded back in 1956. The CBA Charter also got revised at the congress, making president the association's legal representative, a task formally performed by the secretary-general.
As one of the sports icons in China, Yao was selected first overall in the 2002 NBA draft and played in Houston Rockets for nine years while being named to the all-star game eight times.
He also led the Chinese national team to the last eight at 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Games. In 2009, Yao bought the Shanghai Sharks, the CBA club where he played as a teenager.
And last year, Yao was elected as the vice president of the newly-established CBA company which is in charge of the league's management and business development.
Since his retirement in 2011, Yao has been pursuing reforms of professional basketball in China. Right after the election, Yao spoke for the first time as chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
