Anta Sports is going head to head with Li Ning in a battle for brand supremacy in the Chinese sportswear market.
Anta this year clinched a high-profile sponsorship deal to supply the official sportswear for the Chinese national teams competing at 11 major international competitions, including the 2012 London Olympics. The Fujian-based company is already sponsoring the Chinese Basketball Association teams and national volleyball leagues.
And with brand ambassadors in women's tennis including last year's world No1 Jelena Jankovic and Chinese No 1 Zheng Jie, the company is showing ambitions to lead the industry.
Claudia Lo, Anta's vice-president of investor relations, said the company's focus on high-performance athletes and key events has helped it gain nationwide recognition.
It was Li Ning, though, that scooped the best free advertising when its founder, the gold medal-winning gymnast Li Ning, mimed racing around the Bird's Nest while suspended in the air to light the Olympic flame in Beijing last year.
The company has also signed sponsorship deals with sports stars including NBA's Shaquille O'Neal and Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, who recently broke her own world record wearing Li Ning apparel.
