Li Ning, the mainland¡¯s major sportswear seller, plans to have as many as 5,100 retail outlets in China by 2008.

Li Ning.[filephoto]

"To further boost our sales, we will increase 500 new stores every year in 2007 and 2008, making the total number of stores in China reach 5,100 by the end of 2008,¡± said Li Ning¡¯s CEO Zhang Zhiyong.

"Li Ning has opened a total of 3,630 stores in China so far and we hope to bring the number to 4,100 by the end of 2006,¡± he said.

Zhang also said that 80 per cent of the new stores that Li Ning would open would be franchised stores.

"The remaining 20 per cent will be flagship stores and Li Ning brand stores opened and managed by ourselves,¡± he said.

Zhang¡¯s remarks came after Li Ning registered big gains in the first half.

The company posted a net earning of 129.9 million yuan in the first half of 2006, up 65.9 per cent from one year ago.

Its turnover rose by 24.2 per cent to 1.37 billion yuan, largely boosted by its sales from footwear, accessories and apparel.

"Our sales from Li-Ning footwear rose by 49.9 per cent to 527.2 million yuan and followed by sales from Li-Ning accessories and apparel, which increased by 28.3 per cent and 23.3 per cent to 107.6 million yuan and 728.9 million yuan, respectively,¡± Li Ning¡¯s CFO Tan Wee-seng said.

Zhang said that his company would further expand its market shares especially in China¡¯s third-tier cities.

"There is still a big potential in these cities,¡± Zhang said. ¡°We will open more stores in these cities to further increase our market shares.¡±

Li Ning is currently the No.1 sports footwear, accessories and apparel seller in China¡¯s second and third-tier cities, beating foreign giants such as Nike by holding about 20 per cent market shares.

In China¡¯s first-tier cities, Li Ning owns a market share of about 8 to 9 per cent, 1 per cent lower than Nike.

"First-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have come to their saturation point already. Hence we will only open flagship stores there in future,¡± Zhang said.

Li Ning currently has a total of 21 flagship stores in China, mostly located in major cities and capital cities.

Zhang told reporters that Li Ning would consider 2008 Olympics Games as a golden chance.

"By 2008 we will open a total of six Li Ning flagship stores in six Olympic cities, namely Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Shenyang, Shanghai, Qingdao and Hong Kong," Zhang said.

"We will also strengthen our cooperation with Chinese national teams and sign more famous athletes while launching more new products into local market,¡± Zhang added, without providing any details.

To further consolidate its brand image and influence in China, Li Ning established a partnership with a number of sports events such as CUBA, CUFL, ATP and NBA Jam Van.

The company also signed many famous athletes including Shaquille O¡¯Neal, NBA¡¯s all-star centre.

"We believe the deal (with O¡¯Neal this month) will help enhance Li Ning¡¯s professional image as well as popularity among its fans," Zhang said.

He said its 21 AIGLE stores were all running well.

"We will open a total of 60 AIGLE stores in China by the end of 2006,¡± Zhang added.

In 2006, Li Ning formed a joint venture with French sportswear manufacturer AIGLE which allowed Li Ning to manufacture, market, distribute and sell outdoor sports products bearing AIGLE trademark in China for 50 years.

Zhang did not rule out the possibility of having tie-ups with other foreign sports brands in future.