MIES - Gou Zhongwen, the President of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) and Director of China's General Administration of Sport (CGAS), led a COC delegation that visited FIBA's headquarters on Tuesday.

The COC representatives were hosted by a group of FIBA officials headed by Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Patrick Baumann.

The visit to the House of Basketball was part of Gou's first trip abroad since he assumed his duties with both the COC and CGAS late last year.

The purpose of the meeting, Gou said, was to stress the continued commitment toward growing basketball in China, where it ranks as the number one team sport.

As CGAS looks to reform basketball's administrative structure in the country, Gou is keen to hear from FIBA and implement measures recommended by the world governing body.

He also expressed interest in working closely with FIBA on programmes such as training coaches at grassroots level in order for basketball to reach its full potential in China.

In 2019, FIBA will host the biggest edition of the Basketball World Cup, with a record 32 teams competing across eight cities, and Gou sees this as a perfect opportunity to elevate the overall level of the sport's development in the country.

FIBA