Chinese football fans will be able to watch English Premier League matches on free-to-air television again this season, reports The Guardian. Since 2007 exclusive TV rights were owned by the digital broadcaster Win TV, with matches only available on subscription.
However, Guangdong TV, which broadcasts to most of the nation, has now paid £1.6m for the right to show one live game and a highlights package every week.
The Premier League's commercial director Richard Masters said: "We have many pay TV partners in Asia and we have a responsibility to maximise revenue for our clubs so that we can continue to attract the best players in the world. That said, we are obviously happiest when we can match strong revenue with good viewing figures. We want as many people as possible to see Premier Leagues matches.
"In China we are very happy that our partner WIN TV has reached an agreement so that some matches will be seen free-to-air on local stations."
Asia accounts for more than 40% of the League's global audience with nearly one million fans tuning in.