Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Shenzhen-based ZTE Corp will not sponsor China's Super League. China's biggest publicly traded telecommunications equipment supplier has finally and officially terminated the talks, today's Sina.com reported.
An un-named official with the Super League, the country's top professional soccer association, is quoted as saying, "it's impossible for the Super League to cooperate with ZTE, which pulled out of the talk several days ago."  He revealed that an advertising firm hired by ZTE to help with the negotiations has withdrawn from the talks.
Another ZTE employee, quoted on condition of anonymity in the same report, confirmed that the sponsorship negotiations had ceased.
The two parties had failed to agree on the sponsorship fee, which has reportedly declined to 50 million yuan (US$6 million), far below the Super League's psychological bottom line, and the Super League is unwilling to accept ZTE's requirement to pay the fee in four installments, the report said.
The Super League official acknowledged that the sponsorship issue has become difficult, with no progress so far.
The Super League, which is now in its second year, was marred by match-fixing allegations and poor turnouts in its inaugural year.
Its former sponsor, German conglomerate Siemens, ended a multi-million euro sponsorship deal in January, after having invested US$200 million since early 2003.