The two-week-long event offered numerous opportunities for Chinese businesses to engage in international trade and commerce. From sponsorship deals and product placements to export opportunities and investment ventures, Chinese enterprises leveraged the global attention surrounding the games to strengthen their market presence abroad. In fact, sectors including technology, consumer goods and sports equipment have all benefitted from the increased visibility and consumer interest generated by the Olympics.

As we saw earlier this year at Euro 2024, the visibility of Chinese brands has been further amplified by their roles as official partners and sponsors of the 2024 Olympics.

Major Chinese companies including Alibaba and Mengniu are top-tier sponsors of this year’s games. Notably, Mengniu is the sole Chinese consumer goods company among the global Olympic partners, enhancing its brand visibility on an international stage. These partnerships not only boost brand recognition but also create avenues for increased consumer engagement and market penetration.

Surge in export demand for sports equipment and Olympics-related goods

The run-up to the Paris Olympics has seen a substantial boost in demand for Chinese-made goods, driven by both the Olympics’ scale and China’s robust manufacturing capabilities.

This surge is partly attributed to the significant role of Chinese manufacturers in producing Olympic merchandise. The Paris Organising Committee has confirmed that 80% of the Olympic mascots are made in China, with a substantial portion produced in the Chinese city of Yiwu. This dominance underscores China’s strategic advantage in the global supply chain for the Paris 2024 Olympics event-related products.

Increased cross-border e-commerce activity

The excitement of the 2024 Paris Olympics has significantly impacted the digital marketplace, with Chinese e-commerce platforms like Temu, Shein and AliExpress all capitalising on the event. These platforms have leveraged the Olympic buzz to boost their visibility in Europe, offering everything from budget accessories to high-end sports gear. The competition among these sellers mirrors the intensity of the sports events, featuring aggressive pricing and strategic promotions. This surge in e-commerce is conductive in helping Chinese sellers address challenges in building brand recognition and breaking into mainstream European markets.

The “Olympics Effect”: Sports industry trends

Winning medals and showcasing national athletic prowess is important, but the broader significance of the Olympics lies in sparking public interest in the sports industry, with the added bonus of improving overall health.

For example, following the Beijing Olympics in 2008, China designated August 8 as National Fitness Day each year and elevated national fitness to a strategic priority in 2014. In 2019, the State Council released the Outline for Building a Leading Sports Nation, a plan which aims to develop the country of 1.4 billion people into a “modern sports power” by 2050. Similarly, the 14th Five-Year Plan further specifies the goal of establishing China as a sports powerhouse by 2035, highlighting the nation’s significant focus on sports development.

China’s sports industry has shown remarkable growth, with total output rising to RMB 3.3 trillion (U$461.68 billion) by 2022. Historically, sports equipment has been the largest segment of China’s sports industry. However, with growing fitness awareness and increased sports consumption, sports services – such as event management, venue operations, and training – have experienced significant growth too.

Current per capita sports spending in China is around RMB 3,000 (£330). According to a recent report, the structure of sports consumption is evolving with three notable trends:

• Shift to service-oriented spending: There is a movement from purchasing physical products like sportswear and equipment to spending on services such as event tickets and fitness training.
• Increased demand for new outdoor sports: Outdoor sports activities like cycling, water sports, ice and snow activities, climbing, fishing, marathons and equestrian sports are becoming more popular.
• Integration of sports with other industries: This trend is leading to new “sports+” business models. For instance, the ice and snow tourism market, driven by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, saw significant activity with 230 million visits and over RMB 390 billion (US$54.56 billion) in revenue during the 2020-2021 season.

Although China’s sports-related products still lag behind those of other developed economies – where sports-related leisure products account for about 50% of the market – the growth of sports media and entertainment is expanding consumer potential and contributing to the sector’s development.

A longer version of this article was originally published by Dezan Shira & Associates’ China Briefing with the title ‘China’s Economic and Sports Industry Gains from Paris 2024 Olympics’

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Formula One is back in China for the first time in five years this weekend, the latest in a series of major sporting events to return after the restrictions of the pandemic years. F1 currently has an agreement to hold the Shanghai Grand Prix until 2025.

F1 owners Liberty Media see China as a key future growth market, and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has previously said that a second Grand Prix race in China is “100% realistic”, with Guangdong being the rumoured second destination. Only two other countries have more than one race on this year’s calendar: Italy with two and the US with three.

The popularity of F1 in China has been boosted by the country’s first F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu, who drives for Kick-Sauber’s Stake F1 Team. Nevertheless, F1 is still very much a niche sport in China and Zhou is not yet a household name in his home country. This is something that he hopes to change with the release of a 90-minute documentary “The First One” that tells of his race career so far.

The poster for F1 driver Zhou Guanyu’s autobiographical documetary, ‘The First One’. Photo: Instagram/@zhouguanyu24

Since the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, China has welcomed back several major international sporting events, including the 19^th Asian Games, the Shanghai Masters snooker tournament (featuring world number one English snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan), and the China Open tennis.

China’s General Administration of Sports has emphasised that sporting events have an important role to play in the country’s economic development, with sporting events in Shanghai alone generating RMB 3.71 billion (£411.6 million) of consumption value in 2023.

Sporting events are also part of the Chinese government’s wider efforts to lure visitors back to the country after the pandemic, which include visa-free travel for citizens of an increasing number of countries and widened access to mobile payment options for foreigners.

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The large and active Chinese millennial population has embraced a healthier lifestyle, joining gyms and fitness classes or buying their own fitness equipment. As a result, China’s sports and fitness market has seen exponential growth, from about 500 gyms in 2001 to more than 100,000 fitness studios in 2022.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed much about how consumers live, including how they work out. Now more than ever, customers are using smart interactive fitness equipment to exercise at home. The smart fitness and sports industry, which includes fitness apps, wearables and smart exercise equipment, will amount to US$5.2 billion in 2023.

Some of the major players include Garmin, Life Fitness, Peloton Interactive, Nautilus, Technogym, Xiaomi, BH Fitness, Tonal, NordicTrack, Echelon, Bowflex, Hydrow and SoulCycle.

China’s fitness boom is also being encouraged by the government, which announced a five-year plan to invest RMB 1.5 trillion (£171.1 billion) to improve its citizen’s fitness levels and fight obesity. The plan focuses mainly on teenagers, who will likely carry on these fitness habits as they age.

Smartwatches are the leading product in the smart fitness and sports industry

The future of the digital fitness market in China looks promising, with opportunities in smart wearable fitness devices and smart wearable sports devices. The major drivers for the growth of this market are increasing awareness of fitness and rising demand for user-friendly and self-monitoring devices.

Emerging trends include integration and cross-compatibility of personal health data and the introduction of cross-over products.

Smart wearable fitness and sports devices are the most popular products in the market. Experts forecast that the smartwatch segment is expected to witness significant growth due to their versatile features as a wristband.

Within the digital fitness market, smartwatches are expected to remain the largest segment by product type. Multi-functionality, growing health awareness and rising disposable income are the major driving factors spurring growth in this segment.

A wearable fitness tracker may follow several activities depending on the user’s requirements, including goal-setting, sleep tracking, activity tracking, calorie tracking, heart monitoring and step counting.

Fitness apps have also experienced increased popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 100 million mobile users have at least one fitness app on their phones, and new apps and platforms are popping up daily.

Apps also play an important role in the Chinese government’s push to get the older population more active. Faced with an ageing society, the government wants people of all ages to get active, and they are building new facilities, offering sports programmes, and planning to invest more than RMB 5 trillion in the sports and fitness industry by 2025.

What are the most popular activities in the smart fitness and sports market?

Two of the most popular activities in China are yoga and dance. Since March 2020, there has been an increased interest in yoga in China and revenue in the yoga industry in China reached almost RMB 50 billion (£5.7 billion) in 2020. People had to look for ways to stay active and deal with the stressful atmosphere during prolonged lockdowns. Those who picked up yoga during the pandemic will most likely continue doing it, even now that restrictions have been lifted.

In China, yoga is seen as a way to relieve stress, cultivate an attractive body and keep fit, which is why so many fitness centres offer different types of yoga and dance classes. Even though cardio and bodybuilding sessions are available, most users prefer yoga and dance.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the online fitness market experienced a substantial increase in users, with online yoga being the most popular. Videos of KOLs doing yoga while promoting sportswear and fitness equipment went viral on Chinese social platforms such as Douyin (aka TikTok) and Xiaohongshu.

According to a report from the short-video platform Douyin, the number of fitness videos on the platform in 2022 rose by 134% year-on-year, while the number of content creators for these videos rose by 39%. Compared with the previous year, there was a 208% rise in the number of followers of online fitness trainers. Revenue from live fitness broadcasts on Douyin also rose by 141% year-on-year, with rapid sales growth for many types of exercise equipment.

According to the 2022 Spring-Summer Sports and Fitness Consumption Trend Report published by the Jingdong Institute of Consumer and Industrial Development, sales of yoga and dance products have risen rapidly. Sales of yoga pants grew by 868%, yoga shoes by 816%, and yoga bags by 104%.

Fitness apps such as Keep, Codoon, and Mi Fit are popular among Chinese consumers. Users can access training tips, find online fitness courses and connect with other fitness enthusiasts and professional trainers via their smartphones. This business model also helps companies expand customer relationships on a different level than before.

Companies leading the way in this field include Lululemon and VAHA, who have created mirrors that double as interactive training screens, and JAXJOX, a buildable home fitness equipment provider based around a touchscreen TV. Fiture is another active brand of fitness mirrors in China, while fitness brands such as Codoon (a fitness app) and Lefit (a chain of gyms) in China have also released smart training mirrors.

Which other areas of the industry can brands tap into?

Many new brands have appeared over the past few years, continuously attracting new investment. Besides fitness apps and smart home fitness equipment, there are many gaps in the market waiting to be tapped.

Some home design brands are developing creative furniture collections that can be turned into training equipment, while beauty brands are launching fragrances inspired by fitness activities like yoga. Some laundry brands have even developed special formulas to deal with the smells generated by sweaty fitness clothes. There is also a lot of scope for new products in the sports nutrition sector too.

New-style fitness gyms supported by digital technology have seen a lot of success in recent years. The aforementioned Lefit, a 24-hour self-service gym chain based in Hangzhou, is emblematic of the new type of gyms that are attracting young users. People can enter a Lefit gym simply by scanning a QR code with the brand’s app.

The brand also has an intelligent management system that can precisely match its users, gyms and fitness instructors, guaranteeing higher operational efficiency and lower costs than conventional gyms. It also offers a pay-per-use model. To date, the brand has opened 754 gyms across the country and attracted more than 6 million users.

Technology is also influencing the sportswear industry. With the help of big data and kinesiology, underwear brand Aimer is striving to develop new materials with less friction and higher air permeability for its yoga and running garments.

How to succeed in the smart fitness market

For companies in the health and fitness industry, now is a great time to enter the Chinese market. Nevertheless, there are some key steps that need to be taken to be able to sell fitness apps, equipment or clothing in such a highly competitive landscape.

Chinese consumers rely on word-of-mouth marketing and pay attention to recommendations and reviews of people they know or influencers they follow. They won’t buy or pay for anything they have never heard of.

Building a strong online presence for your fitness product is the most important step. The best way to do so is by launching your own Chinese website hosted in China so that consumers can find you on Baidu. You can also use other Baidu platforms, such as online forums and Q&A websites, to start conversations about your brand and learn about the needs of your potential consumers.

For Chinese consumers, the quality of items they buy, as well as the service they get when purchasing, are the most important components. In general, they don’t mind paying a bit more if they think that something is a good investment. Therefore, promoting a high-quality brand is key.

While promoting your brand, highlight its values and educate the audience about the benefits of using your products/service. You can show videos of professional athletes using them (even better if you collaborate with Chinese athletes or sports influencers) and share the opinions of experts.

Advertising your fitness business through social media, especially on platforms such as WeChat, is another great way to increase your visibility and make yourself known to Chinese users. Many Chinese people follow literally dozens of fitness blogs. Every day, they will look at their news feeds to learn about new workout routines or trendy diets.

You can also use those apps as a testing platform. WeChat allows companies to start official accounts and create WeChat stores, a cheaper option than entering big online marketplaces like Tmall or JD.com, and a way to get an idea of the level of interest in your products. If you want to promote your app, try to build it within WeChat first. This will help you reach a bigger audience, as it’s easier to share and promote within the app.

You can also open accounts on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin. Those platforms are great for lead generation and reaching a wider audience through different content formats. Xiaohongshu and Douyin also have their own marketplaces, making promoting products and increasing sales easier.

As the fitness market has boomed, so has the number of sports influencers. More and more influencers are popping up on Chinese social media, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic and Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Collaborating with fitness influencers to promote your brand on their social media accounts is one of the best ways to gain visibility and increase sales in China. Influencers can host live streaming sessions showing off your products or use your products while training. You can also collaborate with local gyms and fitness centres, introducing your products to personal trainers that can later promote them to their customers.

Although all the mentioned options are essential for branding and e-reputation, nothing will give you as much exposure as Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms like Tmall and JD.com. Most Chinese shoppers prefer to purchase products directly from these, as they feel they are safer and more convenient.

China Consumer 2023

This article was produced as part of a series for China Consumer 2023.

Learn more about CBBC’s flagship consumer event of 2023 here.

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Despite making its way to China over 30 years ago, the game of ultimate frisbee has only recently risen to become a popular form of social currency amongst China’s Gen Z crowd. The emergence of this sport is very similar to China’s recent embracing of glamping; it’s an outdoor activity with low barriers to entry and minimum equipment needed.

Not only is Ultimate Frisbee easy to play, but the inclusive nature of this mixed-gender sport has also added to its appeal with a young demographic, who are using it as a tool for socialising. As a result, the activity is reported to have drawn in over half a million players in 2021, taking first place as China’s most beloved niche sport in 2022.

The enthusiasm was soon reflected on China’s largest lifestyle-sharing platform, Xiaohongshu, which also acts as a trend indicator for Gen Z. Frisbee-related content surged sixfold and amassed 570 million accumulated views in the past year, according to the Top 10 2022 Lifestyle Trends published by the platform.

The ultimate frisbee craze was encouraged by the latest notice issued by the General Administration of Sport of China earlier this July announcing the launch of the first China Frisbee League, which was held at a sports centre in Duyi Heritage Park in Xi’an, Shaanxi province. As the news arrived, Xiaohongshu doubled down on its bid on the sport by becoming the official content community for this event. These actions signal a growing recognition of the popular activity, pushing the transformation of frisbee from a niche exercise to the mainstream.

The momentum that frisbee has also had an influence on the fashion industry, with seamless yoga outfits seeing growing traction amongst frisbee players, drawing in sports brands. So far, Norwegian athletic shoe company Hoka and Japanese high-end winter sports brand Descente (which was acquired by Chinese brand Anta) have broadened their product ranges to tap into the frisbee sensation.

Meanwhile, global labels such as Lululemon and Nike, as well as Chinese sun protection unicorn Beneunder, have made efforts to foster communities of frisbee lovers. Lululemon partnered with one of China’s two biggest frisbee start-ups, Yikun Discs, and added this new sport to the routine outdoor activities for its Sweat Community.

The popularity of the sport isn’t just limited to offline communities. In the metaverse, Chinese brand 361 Degree Sports intends to feature frisbees in one of its first NFT-powered digital collections, a collaboration with popular art toy brand FATKO. This has increased the exposure of the sport amongst a young demographic through digital buzz, while strengthening 361 Degree Sports’ connection with its target audience using timely action.

China’s core market for ultimate frisbee (which includes businesses offering frisbee production; sales; venue and training service providers, and competition organisers) is reported to have reached a market scale of RMB 7.5 billion (£917 million) as of 2021, which has also stimulated the growth of related market segments (including activewear, social events, hospitality, and entertainment venues) valued at a total of RMB 86.8 billion (£10.6 billion) by the end of 2021.

With ultimate frisbee expected to grow to a sizeable RMB 64.5 billion (£7.9 billion) by 2027, the additional value generated by related industries is set to hit RMB 652.4 billion (£79.7 billion) in the same timeframe. So as not to miss out on a slice of this market (or other niche sports markets like it), brands should be more active in engaging with local players by providing more experiential activities or incorporating sport with other marketing efforts to create a richer consumer experience, therefore resonating with the target community while maintaining their appeal to existing customers with diversified offerings.

Call +44 (0)20 7802 2000 or email enquiries@cbbc.org now to find out how CBBC’s market research and analysis services can provide you with the information you need to succeed in China.

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The 2022 Paralympic Winter Games (4-13 March) mark an important moment for disabled citizens and athletes from all around the world. Despite the escalation of geopolitical tensions in many countries since the start of the Winter Olympics in February, the spirit of the Paralympic games has not faded.

The Paralympic Games are a big moment for China and Britain as both nations showcase their biggest teams to date; China had a record 96 athletes and Britain fielded a team of 25, its biggest since the Games in Lillehammer in 1994. China has had an incredible showing, ranking top of the table both in terms of gold medals and overall number of medals.

The prospect of the Games has encouraged many more children and adults with disabilities to try skiing, curling and other sports. It is reported that China has made remarkable progress in the development of winter sports facilities for people with disabilities, and since 2016 the number of Chinese nationals taking part in Paralympic sports has grown from less than 50 to 1,000.

The Paralympic Games is an important reminder about the continuing need for inclusivity of disabled citizens in China. According to a white paper published by the State Council in 2019, there were more than 85 million disabled people in China. Nevertheless, many still face barriers to inclusion in their daily life and exclusionary hiring practices, despite anti-discrimination laws that levy fines against companies who do not fairly consider employing disabled people. 

China is making the most of new technologies at this year’s Games and has introduced a smart accessibility service platform that allows athletes staying in the Olympic Village to navigate an accessible route to events via their mobile phones. 

One of the most important aspects of the Games is that it aims to provide a voice for people with disabilities. A global human rights campaign called #WeThe15 was launched at Tokyo 2020 by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Disability Alliance (IDA). The campaign aims to remove the wide variety of barriers faced by disabled people so everyone can fulfil their potential and be active, visible members of an inclusive society. 

Over the years there have been some improvements in the social and commercial visibility of disabled people in China. For example, in 2021, Tmall launched a campaign called the One-Shoe scheme to offer amputees a single shoe. The campaign, which featured disabled professional athletes, proved to be a huge success, attracted over 120 million engagements on Weibo and attempted to emphasise equality and remove stigma. Nevertheless, as the campaign’s creative director Jin Sihan told Dao Insights, it also drew attention to the need for careful messaging around cause-related campaigns, so that brands don’t seem to be taking the moral high ground or patronising either disabled people or the general public.

This year’s Winter Paralympics also marked a “global first” for an international sporting event, as UK broadcaster Channel 4’s coverage of the event will be led by a team comprised entirely of presenters and pundits with disabilities. 

While there is still a way to go in terms of the rights of disabled people in China, the Winter Paralympics have drawn attention to a section of society that often goes undiscussed, validating the athletes who have truly earned their moment in the spotlight through their athletic prowess and perseverance.

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With so many questions and potential controversies swirling around the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics — from geopolitical tensions to whether China could maintain its ‘dynamic zero’ Covid-19 policy with so many athletes coming in from abroad — it was hard to predict beforehand which stories would capture headlines.

Looking back over the biggest stories now that the Games are over, beyond some incredible feats of sporting prowess, a number of personal and cultural stories also grabbed the world’s attention. People went crazy for Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen, a giant panda wearing a suit of ice, causing two to three-hour-long queues to form outside stores selling Olympic merchandise in central Beijing – surprising given that it attracted little fanfare when it initially launched in 2018. Team GB became the unlikely stars of the opening ceremony when Weibo and WeChat users responded positively to their Ben Sherman-designed outfits.

However, one name has stood out above all others: Eileen Gu.

The 18-year-old is the success story of China’s “naturalisation project.” A pet project of President Xi Jinping, the plan to recruit foreign athletes of Chinese heritage to represent the country in certain events was launched after Beijing won its bid to host the winter games to address the fact that it had only won a small number of medals at previous Winter Olympics — 13 as of 2018, to be exact.

Gu is one such athlete, and she has more than met China’s expectations, winning two gold medals in the freestyle skiing big air and halfpipe events, and a silver for slopestyle. This not only makes her the youngest ever freestyle skiing Olympic gold medalist, but also the first freestyle skier to win three medals at the same event. Clearly, she is a force to be reckoned with, and both commercial brands and other organisations are taking note.

In 2019, Eileen announced on social media that she had made the choice to represent China in the 2022 Winter Olympics. With this decision came a stream of nationalistic praise from Chinese citizens and sponsorships from state-owned firms including Bank of China and China Mobile. As Ricardo Fort, who managed Olympic sponsorships for Coca-Cola and Visa during past Games has said, “If I had to choose between Chinese sponsors and American sponsors, the pool of money for endorsements in China is more interesting for any athlete.”

Gu’s decision to compete for China was met with less enthusiasm in the West. Many Americans criticised the young athlete for choosing to represent a nation with an increasingly hardline government, especially since she had been trained and raised in the US. Eileen’s silence on many topics concerning China also came as a surprise to her fans in the US, who know her as an outspoken advocate for human rights. At the age of 12, Gu gave a speech to her all-girls school about female empowerment and spoke about the difficulties she faced competing in a male-dominated sport. Yet when asked about whether she shared the concerns of the international sporting community regarding the well being of Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis player who accused a former Chinese official of sexual harassment in November 2021, Gu simply said she was “really happy” that Peng had been at the Olympic freestyle big air event to watch her win her gold, and honoured that a star from a major sport like tennis had come to see “niche sports like freeskiing.” 

China’s recruitment of Eileen Gu also has political implications. As Martin Wiesiolek, a cross-country skiing coach, wrote online rather bluntly in 2019, “[Eileen Gu] will end up serving as a political tool…” While such a statement may be perceived as dramatic, it certainly carries an element of truth. Choosing a mixed-heritage athlete to be the face of the sport in a country with a strong culture of conservative nationalism does seem deliberate on Beijing’s part. After all, Gu’s decision to choose her Chinese heritage over her American upbringing is a grand demonstration of China’s soft power.

Gu has become a token of China’s growing strength. Her decision to represent the country of her mother’s birth will certainly have huge financial implications for her personally; she is reported to have made RMB 200 million (£23 million) in endorsement deals in China in 2021, even before her successful Winter Olympics run. It will also have an impact on the geopolitical tensions that are increasing between China and the US — especially now that Beijing can boast that a prominent US national has elected to come in from the cold. In China, Gu’s decision and medal-winning success at the Games helps Beijing foster an image of a US in decline. But despite all of this, Gu claims to be disinterested with the political implications her dichotomous identity carries, telling a recent press conference “I’m not trying to make anyone happy”. 

Image captured from Instagram @eileen_gu_

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China’s athleisure market is booming. As more and more Chinese people make fitness part of their daily schedule, China’s sportswear market has become the second-largest in the world behind the US. In 2019, the retail value of the Chinese sportswear market reached an estimated RMB 316.6 billion (£36.8 billion). Foreign athletic wear has long been favoured by Chinese consumers, with brands such as Nike and Adidas maintaining a leading position in the market over domestic Chinese brands primarily due to their high quality.

However, in recent years the direction of the sportswear market has shifted, and Chinese sports brands such Anta and Li Ning are rapidly closing in on foreign companies. Whilst these brands are virtually unheard of outside of China, they are becoming ubiquitous in their home country. 

Anta (established in 1991) is currently ranked third in terms of market share behind Nike and Adidas. In the first half of 2021 alone, Anta Group generated revenues of RMB 22.8 billion (£2.6 billion), markedly exceeding the revenue levels of Adidas by RMB 4.5 billion (£500 million) and doubling that of Li-Ning’s. Furthermore, Anta topped online sales on Tmall with Nike and Adidas coming in second and third, respectively. Industry experts predict that if Anta continues at its current growth rate it will soon overtake Adidas in market value and marginally trail behind Nike.  

Nevertheless, there is still room for growth for foreign sportswear brands, but they need to understand the reasons behind Anta’s rapid rise if they want to succeed in the market.

What factors are driving Anta’s growth? 

In March 2021, Nike and Adidas suffered from consumer boycotts in response to their widely stated policy of not using cotton grown in Xinjiang. On top of these political challenges, both companies have also been struggling to win over young Chinese consumers who are generally more in favour of homegrown brands. As part of a trend dubbed guochao (literally ‘national trend’ or ‘Chinese fashion trend’), many young consumers are displaying a stronger preference for Chinese brands.

Anta has benefited hugely from control of its factories and stores. Unlike Western rivals who have to negotiate with third-party factories and retailers to prioritise the production and display of their products, Anta has in-house factories and stores. Therefore, it is able to produce and market a new shoe line, for example, in around six to nine months which is approximately half the timeframe of brands such as Nike.

In recent years, Anta has also bolstered research and development funding to improve the quality of its products. Its aim is to raise the public perception of Chinese products and help reduce China’s reliance on foreign brands. By investing in technology and outfitting elite athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the hope is to gain an advantage over overseas brands by selling products that are both high quality and low in price.

Anta has benefitted from having wildly popular skier Eileen Gu as a brand ambassador

Anta’s marketing efforts have also helped it gain greater recognition in a highly competitive market. Not only has the company landed landmark sponsorships with American NBA players like Klay Thompson and wildly popular Chinese-American freestyle skier Eileen Gu, it was also chosen to supply the uniforms for Chinese athletes and staff members for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. President Xi Jinping even wore a dark blue Arc’teryx parka to the opening ceremony. While Anta has served as an unofficial sponsor for past Olympics, for this year’s games it has become the official supplier and sponsor, as well as the licensed supplier of uniforms for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its staff members. These partnerships have been a great success; Anta’s shares are up 67% since it signed Gu as its brand ambassador in January 2020.  

An appetite for expansion

One of Anta’s main ambitions is to become a global household name through a multi-brand, multi-channel strategy. It started this journey in 2009 when it acquired the trademark of the Fila brand in China. Anta operates the Fila business and Fila stores in China, as well as the stores of Asian brands like Descente and Kolon Sport.

In 2019, Anta bought out Finnish sporting goods company Amer. Amer operates several world-famous brands, including sports equipment brands Salomon and Wilson, and winter sportswear brand Arc’teryx. 

Nevertheless, Anta remains relatively unknown outside of China, and if it wants to expand, it will face challenges in the form of more complicated legal frameworks and the possibility of trade disputes, which together might make it difficult for Anta to quickly achieve global recognition. 

Anta provided the kit for Chinese athletes at Tokyo 2020

The future of Chinese sports brands

While it may be struggling with brand recognition outside of China, the rapid rise in Anta’s share prices reflects the company’s increasing competitiveness.  The Winter Olympics has given Anta an enviable boost in both visibility and stock value, with the value of Anta Sports Products Ltd. (listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) rising as much as 5.2% ahead of the opening ceremony on February 4. Together with increased government support and the strong desire of Chinese consumers to “buy local,” there is therefore considerable potential for Anta to expand its customer base in China and around the world. 

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In this series we look at China-based entrepreneurs, the businesses they have developed and how they have coped with recent obstacles created by the pandemic. Media, entertainment and sports expert and author of “Bamboo Goalposts,” Rowan Simons recounts his China journey

I first came to China in September 1987 to study Chinese as part of the undergraduate degree programme at Leeds University.  I chose Chinese partly because the course at Leeds offered a full year in China, providing an early chance to get a feel for the country. I enjoyed my time here so much and saw so many opportunities, that I decided to stay in the country. I started working with the BBC in a commercial capacity and then established a media business that was involved in the import of TV programmes and commercial sponsorship. The 1990s was the golden era of TV in China and the opening and reform policies meant there was great interest in foreign content and many international companies looking to promote their brands here.

My first career was in the media, and I was invited to become a guest commentator on Beijing TV’s live coverage of the Premier League and FA Cup. People would stop me on the street to say how much they loved football and I would ask them, “do you play?”. The answer was usually negative and I started to realise that China did not have the grassroots network of social clubs that is common in all developed football nations. After some years, I decided that the most practical way to show China that football is a participation sport, not just TV entertainment, was to actually build a grassroots club from scratch.

ClubFootball was established in 2001 and is the longest-running foreign-invested football club in China. We focus on providing all-round education courses for kids aged between 3.5 and 18 years old. We employ mainly British fully qualified coaches supported by local assistant coaches and deliver services to over 30 international, bilingual and local schools as well as directly to parents at multiple facilities across Beijing and neighbouring cities. We have also developed a coach education programme and operate a ClubFootball Culture Store on Taobao that focuses on introducing authentic British and global sports memorabilia to the China market. We also have a charitable initiative called Football for Life, which brings the joys of sport to disadvantaged kids — a fantastic opportunity for British companies in China to get behind our national sport as part of their CSR activities.

ClubFootball’s mission is to inspire, educate and energise China’s football enthusiasts — making them truly feel part of the global football community, and establishing a sense of ownership and passion for the game. Our USP is that we follow a British model and our coaches all have professional qualifications from the UK and other European countries. We are pioneers of the concept of “Play Football, Speak English,” which has proven very effective in encouraging Chinese parents and kids to join our programmes.

I think we have faced and largely overcome all possible challenges over the last 20 years. When we started, sports were not an important component of regular education, so very few parents saw the value in terms of its physical, psychological, technical and social benefits. As the first foreign company in a new space that we were creating, we also faced challenges in working with the government system. Culturally, China did not have the history of civic societies that we take for granted in the UK, so it took time before a new generation of parents started to embrace this philosophy.

There have only been two times when that growth has suffered significantly. The first was in 2008 when Beijing held the Summer Olympics and Paralympics. What should have been a golden time for sports turned out to be the opposite as almost all social activities were cancelled for security reasons. The second is Covid-19, which led to the closure of schools and public sports facilities.

In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were quick to move online with a video series called Skills in Small Spaces, which enabled our members to continue practising by themselves. However, football is fundamentally an offline group activity, so there is no alternative to getting out onto the pitch to play. We have used this downtime to improve our internal systems and streamline our operations, so we are well placed to expand again once the situation stabilises. The key to that expansion is a change in the visa situation, so we can bring more coaches into the country.

Beyond generating short term revenue from sponsorship and licensing deals, the real opportunity for international football businesses and brands is to support the growth of China’s own football culture. China is already an important commercial market for big European leagues, clubs and their superstars, and there is fierce competition between them. However, the main problem is that China has still not developed wide-based participation at grassroots levels and this is the key if football is to become a viable industry in the long term. This is a long term project and few brands (foreign or Chinese) seem to have the patience required to take that path.

Everything has totally changed since I first came to China. Back in the 1980s, almost all the products and services that make up a modern consumer society were yet to be developed, so the opportunities were endless. Now, China is far ahead in many aspects, particularly the digital economy, so the opportunities are more limited. Though my media and sports businesses have grown independently as foreign-owned enterprises, my advice for entrepreneurs coming to China now would have to be the importance of finding a trusted local partner who can help navigate the many differences in this market.

The post Entrepreneur Spotlight: ClubFootball appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

How long have you been dealing with China, how did it start and how has it evolved?

At Manchester City, we have had a fan base in China for many years and it has always been a market we’ve been keen to have a presence in. More recently, with President Xi’s widely stated ambition to develop grassroots football in China, which we were fortunate to hear first-hand when he visited the City Football Academy in Manchester, we saw an opportunity to participate in that movement and have a more permanent and sustainable presence in China.

In the past few years, we have seen City Football Group’s presence grow in China. We had a minority shareholding investment from a China Media Capital-led consortium in 2015, opened offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and now have commercial and media partnerships and coaches operating in schools across the country as part of Ministry of Education Programme. Most recently, along with our partners UBTECH and China Sports Capital, we were excited to fulfil our ambition of acquiring a Club in China, Sichuan Jiuniu FC.

With President Xi’s widely stated ambition to develop grassroots football in China we saw an opportunity to participate in that movement and have a more permanent and sustainable presence in China

How did the purchase of Sichuan Jiuniu FC come about and how will it work with the partners UBTECH and China Sports Capital? 

It’s no secret that we had been looking for an opportunity to be involved with a club in China for some time. Fortunately, we already had a relationship with China Sports Capital and UBTECH. We considered lots of other opportunities, but this one felt right for all of us, and fortunately, we were able to move forward with it. We are now focused on building and developing the Club to improve its performance on and off the pitch.

There has been a gradual swing from British companies investing in China’s infrastructure such as sports academies to Chinese investment into British football clubs and now, with this project, we see a British club investing into a Chinese club. What is next for UK-China football trade?

We look at it more in terms of global football. At City Football Group, we are invested and operating in the UK, US, Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, UAE, Spain and Uruguay. Within that, we see China and the US as significant football markets which still have huge capacity to develop and grow, so we believe there will continue to be more opportunities ahead.

Scott Munn CEO of City Football Group

Why is it important that City Football Group gets involved with China and what are the long term aims and goals?

We are committed to participating in the growth of football in China. We want to do this in a long-term and sustainable way and we believe the opportunity to grow and develop. Sichuan Jiuniu provides exactly that potential, in a significant city which loves football.

There are clear commercial goals of attracting sponsorship and investment as well as a new generation of fans but are there on field aims – such as player exchanges or recruitment ambitions?

All our investments are primarily football ones. We want to grow and develop successful teams which play an attractive style of football, engage their fans and play a key role in their local community. We believe if we can get those things right, other opportunities will follow.

The post Manchester City Football Club CEO explains why they bought a Chinese football club appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

From all-star players transferring to Chinese teams to President Xi’s high profile visits to Premier League clubs, the Middle Kingdom’s growing relationship with English football often makes headlines. Most recently, in February, City Football Group (CFG), the parent company of Manchester City, purchased Sichuan Jiuniu, a Chinese club based in Chengdu.  The company’s Chief Executive, Ferran Soriano, said “China is an extremely important football market, which we have been focused on for some time. We believe strongly in the future of football in China”.

Ferran and CFG are in good company. Their investment follows the lead of other top clubs, like Liverpool FC, who offer coaching and player training in Kunming through their international academy program, and Manchester United, who next year plan to open club-themed entertainment and experience centres throughout China.

Clearly China is a fast-growing market that is attractive to the big players. But it’s not just for Premier League clubs or even businesses that focus solely on football; opportunities abound throughout the sports sector. One example of a British SME that has broken into the market is the Cavendish Group.

Manchester City parent group CFG recently purchased Chinese team Sichuan Jiuniu

Cavendish has been operating in China since 2003, initially as a publisher of a bilingual magazine, and now as a host of conferences such as the International Capital Conference and Host City Asia. Ben Avison is their Editorial and Conference Director and first introduced a China-specific event in 2008 to coincide with the Olympic Games. “China’s sports and major events market is currently the fastest-growing in the world and [with] Beijing hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022, Beijing is the most important city in Asia right now”.

After initially engaging Chinese corporates by bringing them over to events hosted in the UK, Cavendish established a Chinese office to build a local team. Being a complex and rapidly developing country, they sought out experience on the ground. As Avison says, “strong personal relationships and respect for local structures are crucial and we have found our friends and colleagues in China to be extremely supportive in this regard.” This insight helped to establish Cavendish in China, which in turn has helped to raise its brand profile across the world more generally.

For British companies interested in China, there is an imperative to go but it’s not enough to simply survey the conditions on the ground. Foreign companies should recognise the need to be flexible and adapt to a very different market than at home. In many instances that means new products, in others, it’s about understanding how to market to local consumers.

You might be a big fish elsewhere, but in a pond of over 1 billion, you need to know how to differentiate yourself in the right way culturally

Future Lions is an international football academy that has been running programmes in Southern China for several years. Here in the UK, they use traditional social media channels like Instagram or Facebook to tailor messages to segmented populations but, after recognizing that the digital channels that they are familiar with have little or no reach in China, they embarked on learning about those that do. As Founder and CEO Ritchie Jeune says, “WeChat is effectively the be-all and end-all with our market space, somewhere where our existing knowledge was worthless.”

Part of localising is recognising the preeminent position of the government in China. There are benefits that come from local government support and from thinking about how to design services that can be seen as consistent with the aims of the national government in mind. In order to do that Ritchie and his team studied China’s 50-point football reform plan (published by the State Council in 2015) to better understand the state’s strategy for modernising football and how to better “build a long-term identity for Chinese football.”

For Future Lions, taking a long-term view has meant focusing on the grassroots development that is crucial to the reform plan. They have done this by hosting local events, sending coaches over to train unfamiliar PE teachers on how to teach the sport, and introducing football to students that previously may not have even kicked a ball. The goodwill and connections gained from supporting the government aims for wider engagement in football has led to a situation in which the government have been helpful to Future Lions.

This support has been crucial to entering the market commercially and ensures that Ritchie and his team are building a business that is responsive to local conditions and one that can grow and adapt as the country does. As Jeune says, “You might be a big fish elsewhere, but in a pond of over 1 billion, you need to know how to differentiate yourself in the right way culturally and believe in and understand your routes to market intensely.”

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