REUTERS
February 4, 2010

Baseball in China has been hard hit by the sport's removal from the Olympics but the Yankees also brought some good news with them when it was confirmed that the Beijing Games stadium would be rebuilt in the southeastern port city of Xiamen.

"We feel it is a great opportunity here in China to continue to grow the game of baseball," Brian Cashman, general manager of Yankees, told a news conference.

"And hopefully one day a citizen of China will participate and help a Major League Baseball team win a world championship, just like many members who have already done so from other countries now."

Despite Premier Wen Jiabao being a fan and its overwhelming popularity in Taiwan, baseball is a distant second to the hugely successful NBA in the ranks of American sporting exports to China.

The loss of Olympic status after the 2008 Beijing Games was a big blow as China's state sports system focuses almost all of its energy and cash on success in Olympic sports.

The Yankees are doing their best to help out and created a partnership with the Chinese Baseball Association (CBA) three years ago, the first between the CBA and an MLB club

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