Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has acquired rights for the Formula One motor-racing world championship.
The length of the long-term deal, which was confirmed ahead of this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, was not disclosed.
CCTV will broadcast live coverage of all qualifying sessions and races.
The broadcaster will show about 100 hours of live coverage across the season, with the action available across the CCTV-5 and CCTV-5 Plus sports channels, as well as the CCTV-5 mobile app and the CCTV sports website.
Yath Gangakumaran, director of strategy for Formula One, said: "China is a key market for Formula One where we have an ambitious plan to significantly grow the fan base and deepen engagement with our sport. Increasing the reach of F1 through this agreement with CCTV is a crucial component of the plan.
"Alongside this, to engage more on-the-ground, we will launch F1’s first ever multi-day fan festival, taking place in Shanghai ahead of the 15th edition of the Chinese Grand Prix. And in the coming months, there shall be more announcements related to the China growth strategy."
Earlier this month, it was reported that CCTV was set to share rights to the 2018 campaign with pay-television broadcaster Great Sports and online streaming platform Tencent.
Great Sports has broadcast F1 in China since 2002, with CCTV having first broadcast F1 in 1994.