Manny Pacquiao's Anta apparel proves there's money to be made for Chinese brands in the West despite trade war concerns - South China Morning Post

To everyone but Adrian Broner in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last Saturday night there was only one winner and that was Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino boxing legend added to his legacy and fuelled hopes for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jnr after outboxing the delusional Broner over 12 rounds.

There was another winner, though, and their logo was emblazoned on Pacman’s shorts. To the uninitiated it may have looked like the Nike swoosh had been steamed on upside down but it was Chinese brand Anta Sports that provided Pacquiao’s boxing attire, as they have done every fight since a deal was signed in November 2016.

The Chinese brand has had a pretty good week. Their other most high-profile athlete, Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, dropped 44 points on the Los Angeles Lakers in midweek, making his first 10 three pointers to tie an NBA record. He did it all in his signature Anta KT4 sneakers.

Days later the company announced the “All Star” version of the shoes, which will be released ahead of the 28-year-old’s appearance at the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte next month. These shoes give a nod to the three-time NBA champion’s overseas persona “China Klay”.

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When Thompson touches down on the mainland every summer he becomes a different person, one that fans in China and back home in the States love for being a bit of a goof. The more cynical minded might think that to be a marketing ploy but on face value it’s an athlete letting loose thousands of miles from home who just so happens to be on a brand-sponsored tour.

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He’s not the only athlete that makes an annual trip to China. Cristiano Ronaldo, who was just named the most popular footballer on Chinese social media in the Mailman Red Card Report, has begun to make his trips a staple of his summer schedule. The Juventus forward was there after the World Cup last summer to release another pair of China-only limited edition football boots and a sportswear range.

Clearly there is money to be made in China for overseas companies and their star athletes, and the same for Chinese companies willing to take a crack at the West. Not bad going considering we are meant to be in the midst of a trade war between the US and China, in addition to a major economic slowdown in China.

Li-Ning, perhaps the biggest of the Chinese sportswear manufacturers, were reported to be preaching caution about this year when asked. “Our market is primarily domestic, and there’s a rigid demand for sportswear,” founder Li Ning told the South China Morning Post back in August of 2018.

The Olympic gold medal gymnast suggested he was not worried about the trade war because of that domestic basis but even though their international market had dropped from 2.3 per cent of their revenue for the first half of 2018 to 1.6 per cent, the company had posted a 42 per cent jump in their first-half profits.

It’s a booming business at home and abroad, and it would be a massive shock even with their focus on home if Li-Ning did not replace the retiring Dwyane Wade with another big name headliner once he hangs up his Li-Nings at the end of the NBA season. The Miami Heat man signed a lifetime deal with

Li-Ning when he was on his own China tour last summer.

Many of the Western industry giants had already begun to move away from China as a manufacturing base as the country had begun to pivot from being the world’s factory to service industries. Nike were one.

The Swoosh were expected to suffer in the trade war because of their success within China, where they provide the Chinese Super League kits and many of the national team uniform supplies. They even appear to have resolved their ongoing dispute with CSL side Beijing Guoan and Nike merchandise is back in the club store this week.

One sportswear insider told me this week that no matter what is going on politically or economically there is too much money to be made at the moment and it is too easy to make it to think of anything other than greater market penetration in China. They are all too aware that one day the golden goose will be taken away from them so it’s a case of get pay while the sun shines.

That day doesn’t seem soon when young Chinese are as sportswear-obsessed as their peers around the world.

Long term, though, we’re all going to be seeing more Chinese sportswear brands in the West. They’re backing winners like Pacquiao and Thompson, it’d be mad to bet against them being winners themselves.

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