April 28, 2008, Beijing - A new sort of cooperation ceremony was held today at a tennis court in Beijing Potter's Wheel International Junior Tennis Center. Mr. Klaus Maier, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd. and Ms. Sun Jinfang, Vice President of the China Tennis Association (CTA) announced the launch of the "Swing for the Stars" strategic partnership, aimed at jointly promoting the development of tennis practice in China. According to the cooperation agreement, Mercedes-Benz will become the Premier Corporate Partner of the Chinese National Tennis Team and the Title Corporate Partner of the 2008 China Tennis Grand Prix and the Chinese Junior Tennis Development Program.

Working in cooperation with every provincial (autonomous regional) tennis association in China, supported by CTA and sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, the Mercedes-Benz Junior Tennis Development Program comprises of a series of training sessions designed for Chinese junior tennis players under the age of 12. It provides specific training to 250 junior players, with100 junior coaches from all over the country helping to improve junior players' skills and the coaches' teaching level. With these approaches, the program aims to develop and prepare skilled and well-trained backbone players to improve Chinese tennis in the future.