Monthly retail sales of sport and leisure articles in China 2011-2023
The world's factory for sports goods
In 2019, the export value of sporting goods from China had been amounted to 317 billion U.S. dollars. Footwear makes up a large share of the Chinese sports manufacturing industry. Being the world’s largest footwear producer, production of footwear in China had amounted to over 13 billion pairs in 2019, accounting for 55.5 percent of the global shoe production.
Fitness hype pushing sportswear demand
Apart from production, China also poses as one of the largest sporting goods markets worldwide. For a long time, the importance of physical exercise has not been valued in China. Along with rising standards of living and the growth of disposable income, sports and other leisure activities have undergone a renaissance among Chinese consumers. The sportswear market in China has witnessed a continuous growth in sales value between 2014 and 2019. This development was paralleled by measures of the Chinese government designed to increase sports participation, such as the development of sports facilities and the commercialization of sports. Those efforts were even intensified after the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. According to the a survey on the fitness trend in 2020, over 70 percent of Chinese internet users exercised at least once a week. Consequently, the domestic demand for sporting goods continues to increase.