Chinese basketball league season set to resume on June 20

Yi Jianlian (1st R) of Guangdong Dongguan celebrates with his teammates after winning the forth round game between Guangdong Dongguan and Xinjiang Guanghui at the 2018-2019 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) finals in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on May 3, 2019. Guangdong Dongguan won 103-98 and claimed the title. (Xinhua/Zhao Ge)

CBA, the top professional basketball league in China, will restart the 2019-2010 season on June 20.

BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) announced on Thursday that the suspended 2019-2020 season will restart on June 20, after a nearly five-month hiatus.

Qingdao, in east China's Shandong province, and Dongguan, in the southern Guangdong province, have been selected as the hosts for the remainder of the league, which will be contested behind closed doors and in a championship format, due to the need for prevention of the spread of coronavirus, said the CBA.

Jeremy Lin of the Beijing Ducks Basketball Club competes during the eighth round match against Liaoning Flying Leopards at the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) League on Nov. 23, 2019. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

As the top professional basketball league in China, the CBA has been on hold since February 1 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

On April 14, the CBA announced a decision to reduce the salaries of league office's staff above the middle level, in a bid to ease the financial pressure from operational expenses on players' wages and venue rental. ■