Macao is becoming a city of sports and entertainment [Video]

Sands China CEO and President Grant Chum said Macao was diversifying its economy away from gaming to become “a city of sports and … a city of entertainment,” during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the city that concluded Friday.

In an interview on “Squawk Box Asia,” Chum cited a deal announced in early December between Sands China and North America’s National Basketball Association to play two NBA pre-season games in China.

“We’ll be bringing the NBA China games back to China, but this time in Macao,” Chum told CNBC’s Emily Tan. “We don’t want just to do a one-off event. We believe that a multi-year partnership, where we’re going to be playing these pre-season games over several years, is going to really bolster Macao’s positioning.”

The games are part of Sands China’s commitment to invest $4.5 billion into the city through 2032, of which “over 90% … will be in non-gaming investments,” said Chum.

Collectively, the six …