Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks star, has swept up one of his first major endorsement deals since his meteoric rise to basketball fame.

Lin has finalized a deal with Chinese-owned Volvo to endorse the Swedish car brand in the United States, China and in other nations in Asia, according to Volvo Car Corp on Monday.

Volvo didn't disclose any financial details in this deal but said the agreement is for two years.

As the new Volvo Car Corp Brand Ambassador, Lin said that how Volvo was built was "very much in line" with him as a person.

"You may not immediately see the connection between me and Volvo. But both of us are striving to be better and smarter at what we do, and to do it our own way. I hope that my efforts will inspire more young people to follow their ambitions in sports and education, just like Volvo Car Corporation is designing cars around people's ambitions in life," Lin said at a news conference.

The 23-year-old is the US-born son of Taiwanese immigrants and created a wave of excitement among basketball fans when he led the Knicks to a seven-game winning streak in February. He set a new NBA record with 136 points in his first five starts. His rise has seemingly supplanted the void left by the retirement of Yao Ming, the former Houston Rockets center.

The Chinese American player said that his family was "highly involved in the decision" to sign with Volvo. Lin said he grew up without luxury in his life so "high quality and affordability is important" to him.

This agreement is seen as a major step for Volvo, bought by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co in August 2010, to boost its sales in China. Last year, Volvo sold more than 48,000 cars in China - up 55 percent from 2010. China is now Volvo's fastest-growing market, when it seeks to double its global sales to 800,000 vehicles in the next 10 years.

Volvo said Lin's first commercial will come out as early as this summer.

"Volvo Car Corporation's choice of Jeremy Lin as the company ambassador derives from our shared ethos of passion, dynamism and progressiveness," said Freeman Shen, senior vice-president of Volvo Car Corp and chairman of Volvo Car China Operations.

"We believe Jeremy Lin's character, intelligence, perseverance, and pursuit of excellence are perfectly in tune with Volvo car owners' characteristics of appreciating smart understated luxury with a human touch," said Richard Monturo, vice-president of Volvo marketing.

The 6-foot-3 star said that he will be in China this summer.

yuweizhang@chinadailyusa.com