On April 3, Major League Baseball (MLB) and Tencent Holdings Limited signed their organizations' new strategic partnership in Beijing.

Since opening an office in China in 2007, MLB has maintained development centers in Wuxi, Changzhou, and Nanjing. So far, three student athletes have signed contracts with MLB clubs including Xu Guiyan (Baltimore Orioles), Gong Haicheng (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Justin Qiangba (Boston Red Sox), while 36 graduates have gone on to play collegiate baseball in the US, the Chinese mainland, Chinese Taipei and South Korea over the last four years.

As the official digital broadcasting partner of MLB in China, Tencent will livestream 125 games including MLB Jewel Events on an exclusive basis in the country on PC, mobile and over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

Tencent's schedule launched with Super Baseball Week, five consecutive days of games featuring some of the sport's top stars including Mike Trout, Francisco Lindor, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger.

Tencent will work closely with the league to help grow baseball in China by supporting and streaming MLB's extensive array of youth baseball and development events.