Li Ning goes head to head with sportswear giants

Li Ning Co Ltd, China's leading sportswear brand, has raised the stakes yet again in its battle with global leaders Nike Inc and Adidas AG.

The Beijing-based company announced last week it had signed up National Basketball Association star Evan Turner, set to play for the Philadelphia 76ers next season, in a multi-million dollar endorsement deal.

The coup adds to Li Ning's galaxy of stars, which already includes Boston Celtics' player Shaq O'Neill.

It also brings a further edge to the battle in what is emerging as one of China's fastest growing retail markets.

The country's sports apparel market is set to nearly double from its 2009 value of 59.2 billion yuan to 114.8 billion yuan in just three years, according to the Shanghai-based China Market Research Group (CMRG).

Hong Kong-listed Li Ning, founded in 1990 by the now 46-year-old former Chinese Olympic gymnast it is named after, seems keen to knock Nike from its pole position in China.

Brian Cupps, Li-Ning's brand initiative director for basketball, said the Turner deal was significant.

"This is truly a game-changing moment for the Li-Ning brand. Adding a supreme young talent like Evan Turner sends a message to the global basketball community that Li Ning basketball is committed to being a player on the global stage," he said.

Ben Cavender, associate principal at the China Market Research Group, said the endorsement deals were more about improving Li Ning's position in China than driving sales in North America.

It is Chinese people who are more likely to be more impressed by sportswear approved by these big stars, he added.

"I think a lot of Li Ning's efforts overseas help them more in China than in the United States, for example. I think they are interested in selling internationally but it is more of a long-term objective," he said.

"What they don't admit to and what they are being slightly cagey about is that their strategy is to firm their position in China as a domestic brand. They can appeal to a certain Chinese nationalism by playing on being able to compete head-to-head with the major international brands because they have these big-time athletes."

Visitors to Li Ning's campus headquarters just outside Beijing are struck by its similarity to Nike's main base in Beaverton, Oregon. It has the same running track on the outside and other similar sports facilities.

Li Ning also has its US headquarters in Oregon, just a few kilometers up the road from its rival's, in Portland. The two are certainly determined to watch each other closely.

In 2009, Nike was still hanging on to its leading position in the sportswear market in China with a 16.7 percent share, ahead of Li Ning with 14.2 percent, the German giant Adidas with 13.9 percent and the other leading Chinese brand Anta with 9.9 percent, according to CMRG figures.