The first Friendship Cup basketball invitational for Chinese and foreign government and business teams opened in Beijing on Sunday, bringing together about 380 participants from 20 teams.

Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Yoshiyuki Yamada, minister of the economic section at the Japanese Embassy in China, and Xu Jicheng, vice president of the Chinese Basketball Association, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Representatives from Chinese ministries, foreign embassies in China, business associations and international enterprises competed as players in the event.

The invitational was organized by the CCPIT, with support from the Chinese Basketball Association and the Dongcheng district government. It aimed to promote communication between foreign embassies, overseas businesses and Chinese ministries.