The partnership officially began on Sunday (December 1), with BWF claiming it could help the organisation to reach 149.4 million people in China, who actively play badminton.

Mailman has delivered Chinese-based social, digital, commercial, and production strategies for over 50 global sports organisations.

This includes the National Football League and National Hockey League in the United States, as well as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Football clubs Chelsea, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur have also worked with Mailman, as well as individual athletes such as basketball star Kobe Bryant and football player Cristiano Ronaldo.

Owen Leed, the BWF commercial and communications director, claimed the partnership will help convert participants into fans.

"Our simple strategy for both our Anglophone and Chinese audiences is to strengthen the bond between our fans and our athletes.

"This includes converting the huge number of participants we have globally into everyday fans.

"One thing that we have to our advantage in building our fanbase in China is that badminton is a traditional sport and we have an existing, booming, participation group of around 149.4 million.

"Of course, not of all of these are currently active consumers of our content and actively engage in badminton conversations.

"But we much rather prefer to convert 'active participants' into 'active fans' than having to convert fans into players.

"So, in partnership with Mailman, we will be leveraging off influencers and utilising athletes as ambassadors to get more people talking about badminton.

"This is something we are working very hard on at the moment and we look forward to unveiling some exciting new content very soon.

"As we start to build our digital presence and fully utilise the capabilities of our digital and social media platforms in China, as well as bringing the athlete-fan relationship closer together, we feel we will start to see a shift in our fan numbers in China."

BWF will also undertake a pilot project with Mailman's UK-based consultancy arm Seven League.

Seven League will conduct regular social media training sessions with five elite players as part of the project.

The initiative comes as part of the BWF Star Creation Programme, designed to help grow both the global popularity of badminton players and the sport.

"The BWF recognises that the long-term growth of badminton is partly dependent on creating star players who act as role models for badminton and inspire fans across the world," Leed said.

"Through social media, our players have a unique opportunity to develop a close relationship with the fans and as such we feel it important to guide and assist them in this process."

The agreement comes just days before the BWF World Tour Finals in the Chinese city Guangzhou.

The season-ending finals will take place from December 11 to 15.

Mailman chief executive Andrew Collins has welcomed the partnership with the BWF.

"We're excited to begin this partnership with BWF in China," he said.

"As the most participated sport, badminton has long been part of Chinese culture.

"We're looking forward to translate this participation to China's digital space with an entirely new story, building greater engagement and establishing badminton with China’s youth."