China's Yi Jingqian on Thursday became the first Chinese recipient of a wildcard for next month's Australian Open tennis tournament.

She and Gouichi Motomura from Japan are the two Asian wildcard recipients announced on Thursday for the prestigious tournament from January 17-30.

Yi was ranked 140th in the world while Motomura 147th. They join former Asian wildcard recipients Takao Suzuki from Japan, South Korean Sung-Hee Park and Indian's Leander Paes and Nirupama Vaidynathan.

The Asian wildcard was introduced in 1997, offering a maindraw berth for one man and one woman outside the entry cut-off but within the top 200. (Xinhua)