China's video-sharing site TikTok has become one of the top sponsors of the Japanese professional football league (J. League), local reports said here on Wednesday.

The English-language Japan Times said that the league announced a new partnership with TikTok on Monday, aiming to "introduce itself to new audiences."

"An important part of developing our league is figuring out how to widen our circle of friends, and with one video we can extend that circle," J. League Chairman Yoshikazu Nonomura said during a news conference at JFA House.

"We want to use TikTok to present aspects of the J. League that we haven't been able to show before."

The partnership will see the J. League stage three so-called "hashtag challenges" over the course of the season, encouraging fans to shoot and upload videos related to football and their J. League matchday experience, the newspaper said.