Lets hope he does better than Tiger Woods, when he represented Buick. Most Chinese were probably thinking ‘Who is this fellow leaning over the Park Avenue with a golf club in hand?’

From MSNBC:

LOS ANGELES, CA – DMG Entertainment (www.DMG-Entertainment.com), a division of DMG (Dynamic Marketing Group), China’s leading media and entertainment group, has signed a landmark agreement for Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to become the brand spokesperson for Mazda in China.

The sponsorship is the largest single sponsorship deal for a Western celebrity in China’s history.

Phelps, the world’s greatest Olympian and 14-times Gold Medal winner, will exclusively endorse the new Mazda 6 model in a series of advertising campaigns that include TV commercials, newspaper and magazine adverts, as well as outdoor poster advertising and personal appearances.

Michael Phelps, returning to China for the first time since the 2008 Games, said: “The people of China have been very supportive of me and my efforts to help promote swimming. I am excited to begin 2009 with my first return trip to Beijing since the Games.” He added: “I am looking forward to working with DMG and Mazda on my first automotive campaign in China.”

The campaign will be created by D3, an advertising division of DMG, and will be unveiled in the first half of 2009 in Greater China.

“This deal demonstrates the buoyancy of China’s advertising economy,” said Dan Mintz, DMG’s chief executive. “China is increasingly looking to elite personalities to endorse domestic and international brands. This is just the first of a number of high-profile partnerships that DMG Entertainment is negotiating that will open a new chapter in China’s advertising industry.”