Business
With Xi in Its Corner, the Nike of China Wants to Go Global
Anta is hoping the 2022 Olympic Games and NBA star Klay Thompson will help it best its bigger rivals.
Anta shoes on display at Oaklandish in Oakland, Calif.
Photographer: Jason Henry for Bloomberg Businessweek
Chinese President Xi Jinping is rarely seen wearing clothes with visible logos. So when a state television segment in 2017 showed him in the ski town of Zhangjiakou—a venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics—wearing the national team parka, investors were riveted by the insignia on his chest: the red logo of Anta Sports Products Ltd.
Was it just a show of support for the games? Or a tacit endorsement of Anta, China’s emerging challenger to Nike Inc. and Adidas AG? Investors have voted for the latter: Shares of the Fujian-based apparel company rose 8% over the next two days. Revenue is up 80% in the two and a half years since.