Over 1,000 students of Meiling Middle School run on their playground in the morning of Nov. 26, 2014 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province of China. (Photo : Getty Images)
ANTA Sports Products Limited foresees that the publication of research report it has sponsored will help gain a more detailed understanding of the latest developments in China's sports market
The report, entitled "China gets its game on: The emerging power of China's sports and fitness industry," was written by the Economist Corporate Network. It marks the first time a sportswear company collaborated with an authoritative international economic media outlet to size up the scale of the sports and fitness industry in China.
Over 80 senior executives from business corporations and media groups attended the presentation. Rob Koepp, director at ECN, discussed the findings of the report.
Other panelists included Under Armour's Erick Haskell, Managing Director for Greater China; IMG Ski Resort Management president, Justin Downes; and James Zheng, Anta's Executive Director and Brand President.
According to Zheng, the research will reveal the market's future landscape and opportunities.
The Chinese government is promoting sports among the population, aiming to boost the size of China's sports and fitness market to exceed RMB5 trillion in value by 2025 from the RMB1.5 trillion it was worth in 2016.
The Chinese are now paying more attention to their health and athletic performance, which in turn substantially increases the demand for sportswear.
Approximately one-third of Chinese people frequently exercise, which implies that 434 million people in China are physically active.
It is estimated that the number of people who will be physically active will increase as the economy further improves.
While China's per-capita consumption of sports footwear and apparel market is low, it is expected to be robust with sportswear sales reaching RMB254 billion by 2020, a 54 percent jump from 2015.
Currently, the market value of the five publicly traded Chinese sportswear companies is only about $9.4 billion, which is less than a 10th of Nike's.
