Injured Houston Rockets center and owner of CBA team the Shanghai Sharks Yao Ming has returned to his hometown to spend more time running his club.

The 29 year old megastar was still on sticks and his left foot was under heavy protection. Yao's major event on his return was Saturday's launch of the new CBA season, and the opening match will feature his club. He will later spend some 1-month in tailoring this team. Yao said the team was pretty young and needed some time to make a big impression in the CBA.

Yao Ming, the Shanghai Sharks owner, says, "I think we should have more patience with this team. It has experienced ups and downs over the past years. We need to train many rookies, most of whom are quite young. I think they have huge potential. I have patience and confidence for this team."

Yao has already brought about some changes to the Shanghai Sharks prior to the new season. He has brought in an American as the new coach together with some foreign experts and also some overseas players to the team. Yao says he will continue to use his connections in the basketball world to transform his old club into a heavyweight team in the CBA.