For the first time ever, there will be two ranking events in China in the same season, reflecting the rapid growth of snooker in the region.

The tournament will be underwritten by the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association, with the East Asia Group as the officially appointed promoter.

The commercial agreement signed between the CBSA and World Snooker guarantees the staging of the Shanghai Masters and the China Open for at least the next five years.

The tournament will be staged at the Shanghai Grand Stage from August 6 to 12 and will expect to feature the world’s top 16 players including world No 1 and 888.com World Champion John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and home favourite Ding Junhui.

Higgins said: “It’s always good news for the players and for the sport to have a ranking event added to the calendar. Snooker is obviously becoming a major sport in China and staging major tournaments there will help it to grow.”

They will be joined by 16 players who come through the qualifying rounds, to be staged from June 26 to 29 at Pontin’s in Prestatyn and eight Chinese wildcards.

The Grand Stage is one of Shanghai’s best indoor venues with a capacity of 8,000. The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton have played at the venue, owned and operated by East Asia Group. The event will be broadcast by both Shanghai TV and CCTV5.

Simon Leach, World Snooker’s chief representative in China, said: "This completes the first stage of World Snooker’s Development Plan which provides an excellent platform for us to move forward and exploit other opportunities."

World Snooker Chairman, Sir Rodney Walker added: “The agreement with East Asia Group furthers our commercial progress in this region.
China is such a significant growth area for snooker so we are delighted to build on the success of recent tournaments in the country.”

A signed cue by the top 16 players from the SAGA Insurance Masters was presented to Hu Shenqi, Vice General Manager East Asia Group at the press conference.

In attendance at the press conference were:
Simon Leach - World Snooker Chief Representative China
Zhang Xiao Ning - Director National China Sports Bureau and Multi-Ball Administration Center
Wang Liwei - Deputy Director National China Sports Bureau and Multi-Ball Administration Center
Qiu Weichang - Deputy Director General Shanghai Sports Bureau
Chen Liang - Assistant Director Shanghai Media Group
Hu Shenqi - Vice General Manager East Asia Group
Xu Sai - Director Shanghai Sports Channel
Shu Zhaoliang - General Manager Shanghai East Asia Sports Management Limited

The second ranking event in China next season will be the China Open in Beijing from March 23 to 30, 2008, when Graeme Dott will be defending the title.