China Southern Airlines has signed a deal to become the latest sponsor of the Asian Games, to be held next year.

The Games are due to take place in November next year and will be one of the largest sporting events in the world. Some 50 stadiums are required to accommodate 42 sports and over 14,000 athletes.

"China Southern Airlines is honoured to join hands with the Asian Games as a key sponsor and part of the greatest Games in history," said Tan Wangeng, president of China Southern Airlines. "In 2008, China Southern carried 58,240,000 passengers, ranked number one in Asia and number four in the world. We stand proud to be the No.1 carrier in China in terms of passenger volume for 30 consecutive years, the only Top 5 Asian passenger airline in the world as well as the only Chinese carrier being named one of the Top 10 passenger airlines in the world for four years in a row."

The airline will provide flights to Guangzhou from almost all competing countries.