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Xiaomi founder Lei Jun’s endorsement, nationalistic fervour lift sales of Chinese sportswear firm Hongxing
- Sales of Hongxing Erke on JD.com soared as flood donations earned it goodwill
- Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun posted a photo of himself wearing Erke trainers in unexpected boost to public image
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Chinese consumers emptied the inventory of China Hongxing Sports after it donated cash and goods to victims of floods in central Henan province, earning goodwill and an unexpected endorsement from smartphone billionaire Lei Jun.
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The sportswear maker donated 50 million yuan (US$7.7 million) to join scores of companies and billionaires to support efforts to rescue and alleviate the crisis, which killed at least 63 people and affected more than 11 million in the province.
The combined effects of Typhoon In-fa and an area of high pressure in the Pacific generated unprecedented rainfall that caused the deadly floods in Henan, affecting the facilities managed by some of the nation’s biggest companies including Muyuan Foods, Shuanghui Investment and Apple assembler Hon Hai Precision.
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Sales of Erke, its flagship brand of sportswear, soared 52 times to around 6.3 million yuan on an e-commerce platform managed by JD.com on Friday. The company is filling new orders based on pre-bookings as stock depleted, while its live-streaming channel drew as many as 1.7 million viewers.
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