Nina Jobst
Research expert covering South Korea
Sportswear market in China - statistics & facts
Over the past decades, the annual per capita income of Chinese households has been rising at a rapid pace. Wealthier Chinese consumers are willing to spend more on clothing and shoes, assuring China’s position as one of the world’s largest apparel and footwear markets. Amid a series of government initiatives to encourage fitness and increased health consciousness of Chinese people in the post-pandemic period, sportswear continuously outpaced the overall growth of China’s apparel and footwear market, reaching a market size of nearly half a trillion yuan in 2023.
From sports outfits to daily wear
It was once common to see people exercising in casual wear in China. Thanks to ongoing promotional efforts by sportswear brands in cooperation with celebrities and social media influencers, Chinese consumers have come to appreciate the performance benefits and professional look of sportswear. Nowadays, sportswear can be both functional and fashionable due to advances in fabric technology. This has persuaded consumers to wear them in various scenarios. Athleisure style is on the rise across the country.Domestic brands vs. foreign brands
Foreign brands such as Nike and adidas have long dominated China’s sportswear market thanks to their high-tech and stylish products. With increasing cultural confidence, Chinese consumers no longer uncritically believe in the superiority of foreign products but have turned to cheaper native ones of similar quality and function. Moreover, the recent popularity of China-chic has empowered domestic players to gain market share from established market leaders. Of all the ambitious homegrown sportswear companies, ANTA Sports emerged as a strong candidate for dominance. In 2023, ANTA Sports made the largest investment in research and development (R&D) among domestic rivals to maintain its competitiveness.Omnichannel retailing
In China, the online sportswear marketplace is prospering, where Alibaba maintains its dominance, but Douyin is aggressively capturing market share. Brick-and-mortar stores remained an important distribution channel for sportswear products. However, amid the accelerated adoption of e-commerce and social commerce, forward-looking sportswear companies are strategically adjusting their business operations to achieve sales growth. For example, Topsports, the largest retailer of Nike and adidas, has reduced the quantity but increased the selling area of its stores, while adopting an omnichannel approach that integrates physical stores, communities, store livestreaming and featured IPs to improve customer experience.
