The US$1 million Volvo China Open announced it will open the 2005 European Tour season at Shanghai Silport Golf Club on 25th-28th November. At the Asian PGA annual awards ceremony in Bangkok last December, the club became the first to be voted 'Best Venue' for the second time in three years by the pros on the Asian PGA Tour. Now it will be the host venue for the Volvo China Open for the sixth year in a row.

"We're delighted to return to Silport," said Mel Pyatt, head of worldwide sponsorship for Volvo. "By joining theEuropean Tour we, and the China Golf Association, have a much bigger event with worldwide television exposure and we need a venue of the highest quality. Silport has always been good but now it has matured into a top class layout with some of the best putting surfaces I've come across in Asia."

Zhang Lian Wei won in November last year but will face a tough time defending his title as he will be up against top players from the European Tour, although he has proved himself before by pipping Ernie Els for the Caltex Singapore Masters title, also a European Tour co sanctioned event. However, with the Volvo China Open being the opening event for the 2005 season and followed immediately by the Hong Kong Open, it looks likely that many of the European Tour top ranked players will be keen to compete in both to get off to a good start on the Volvo Order of Merit. Deputy Executive Director of the European Tour, George O'Grady attended last year's event at Silport and was full of praise. "Shanghai Silport is an excellent venue and was in superb condition for the 2003 Volvo China Open. We are delighted that China's national open golf championship, which has been so well supported by Volvo for ten years, will be the opening event to our 2005 season. Seeing the way China's economy is moving forward, I am sure that the Volvo China Open will become a landmark fixture in future European Tour schedules."

Kly Hla Han, who won the Open five years ago and has now been appointed as Chairman of the Board for the new players' organization - the Asian Tour also praised the Silport layout. "Having won there in 1999, I'm personally delighted about the return to Silport. It's an excellent layout and one of the most popular with the players. Volvo's support over the years has been wonderful and we look forward to their support for the new players' organization, now called the Asian Tour. We all hope we can move forward together and the inclusion of China's national open, as a joint sanction, is a big boost."

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Volvo China Open. "A lot of national golf opens around Asia are 30 years or more old, so the Volvo China Open is young in comparison," says Alistair Polson, the event's executive director. "However, it's proving itself to be the fastest tracking and a lot of that is thanks to the dynamism of China's economy and the support of the China Golf Association. A country's national sports championships usually thrive when its economy is robust and moving forward fast. The forecast for China's economic growth is good so we can forecast some very good years ahead for the Volvo China Open."