(Yicai Global) Sept. 2 -- Wanda Group and Federation Internationale de Basketball, the world governing body of basketball, have extended their partnership to 2031, giving the Chinese conglomerate exclusive marketing rights to the next three World Cup cycles.

Signed in Beijing on Aug. 31, the deal is a 12-year extension to an original agreement inked in 2016. As a FIBA global partner, Beijing-based Wanda will have worldwide sponsorship rights to the next three FIBA Basketball World Cups and World Cup Qualifiers, the Women's Basketball World Cups, the FIBA Continental Cups and the FIBA Youth World Cups. It will also host FIBA's World Club Championship and Asia Champions Cup on a long-term basis.

The privately held property developer has diversified into entertainment and sports in recent years. Its subsidiary Wanda Sports is one of the world's leading sports marketing companies. It represents dozens of domestic and world organizations with a particular focus on football, basketball and winter sports.

The subsidiary's first aim is to work with international organizations and sponsor major sports events, Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin has said about the unit's positioning in the sector. Its second aim is to buy a comparatively large sports firm to attract major overseas events to China and make money in the process.

Wanda Sports went public in the US in July and was given a 'buy' rating last month by investment banks Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Citigroup. This helped boost its stock price [NASDAQ:WSG] to USD5.24 per share as of the end of last week, up from an earlier dip.