Since Yao announced last July that injuries had ended his career with the Houston Rockets, he has become a university student and set up a wine business to go with owning a professional basketball team in China. Now the 31-year-old has become a member of an advisory body to Shanghai’s legislature. Photos in official media on Monday showed Yao at the weekend closing ceremony for the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Committee. “There are about 142 members in the group, and Yao is the youngest,” Kong Rong, who works in the service office of committee, was quoted as saying by the China Daily. The advisory committee does not have any real power, but the newspaper said Yao is supposed to attend regular meetings, and can make suggestions for the advisory body and government departments. Yao was quoted as saying “raising proposals is very serious business, and I do not want to be hasty.” It is common for sports figures to move into politics in China.
