Chapter 14 The story behind the first sportswear industry

China's sportswear market, including footwear, apparel and accessories, has been expanding rapidly in recent years.Important factors driving the growth of China's sportswear market include the growth of China's overall GDP, rising income levels and changing consumption patterns of increasingly affluent consumers. According to Euromonitor International, according to the analysis of the researched products, China's sportswear market can basically be divided into three categories: professional sporting goods, leisure and fashion sporting goods and fashion sporting goods.Professional sporting goods are sporting goods specially customized according to the sports characteristics, rules and physiological needs of athletes of certain sports competitions, aiming to help athletes strive for the best sports achievements.Casual & Fashion Sporting goods are footwear, apparel and accessories that are both athletic and casual.Fashion sporting goods are a mixture of leisure and fashion sporting goods and fashion clothing, combining sports function with fashion taste and trend.

China's sportswear market has achieved double-digit growth in recent years. The total size of the sportswear market in 2006 was about 32.8 billion yuan. It is expected that the sportswear market will more than quadruple from 32.8 billion yuan in 2006 to 131.2 billion yuan in 2012 , with a compound annual growth rate of 26.0%.Figure 3-1 shows the estimated size of China's sportswear market in terms of sales revenue. Data source: Euromonitor International (2010 to 2012 are estimates). The huge market space has attracted a large number of manufacturers to participate in it. There are more than 3,000 shoe companies in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, China. The main sportswear brands in China include well-known international brands such as Nike, Adidas and Kappa, as well as Li Ning, Anta and Xtep and other domestic famous brands.