Chinese leading sportswear?manufacturer Li-Ning (HKEx: 2331) signed a two-year contract with Cleveland Cavaliers' guard Damon Jones of the National Basketball Association, the company announced in Beijing on Tuesday.

Li-Ning becomes the first Chinese sportswear company to sign a current American player of the NBA. China's brand Athletics signed former Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers legend Clyder Drexler in 2005.

The agreement was inked on Monday at Cleveland, Ohio. Details are not disclosed.

Jones, 29, is one of the leading outside shooters in the NBA, averaging .432 from behind the arc last season with the Miami Heats.

Starting in place of the injured Larry Hughes, Jones averaged 7.7 points this season, shooting .372 on 3-pointer.

Jones has worn the "Feijia" sneakers provided by the Li Ning Sports Good Company this season.

"The Li-Ning products, with oriental culture, make me unusual in the NBA court," Jones said through teleconference from Cleveland when the company held a news conference in Beijing.

"They're an awesome company, and they've been great so far," Jones said to Cleveland local newspaper before the signing of the contract.

"It was a situation where I didn't have a shoe contract coming into the year, and I was searching around, and I felt that being different, as I am, I thought it would be a good move to market myself in a different light."

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2006)