Background
Li Nang was born on March 10, 1963 in Guangxi, China. He is a native of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southwest.
宁 李
Li Nang was born on March 10, 1963 in Guangxi, China. He is a native of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southwest.
Li Ning began gymnastics when he was eight.
After winning six gold medals (including the all-round) at the 1982 World Cup, Li Ning won three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and became a national hero (dubbed the ‘Prince of Gymnastics’) in China. In his 17-year long sports career, he won a total of 106 gold medals in national and world gymnastics competitions. After retiring from competitive gymnastics in 1989, he joined Guangdong Jianlibao Group and later founded the Li Ning Sports Goods Company in 1990, with the goal of creating the first nationwide sports brand in China. The company’s brand is named after Li Ning and positioned itself at an intermediate price/value range between the low price/poor quality domestic products and the high price/high quality international brands such as Nike. As the chairman of the board, Li Ning wisely uses his well-known name in China, and maintains good relationships and connections with sports officials. In 1992, Li Ning branded products were selected as the official sporting goods for the Chinese delegation to the 25th Barcelona Olympic Games. The company also regularly provided uniforms for the opening and closing ceremonies and the torch relay in the National Games. At the same time, Li Ning started to develop a franchising and retail network in the PRC. Through intensive sponsorship of sporting events, local activities, and well-known athletes, the Li Ning brand began to penetrate the Chinese consumer market.
After a decade’s efforts and persistence, Li Ning has led his company to become China’s largest domestic sports goods company with three main products: apparel (54 percent of sales in 2006), footwear (38 percent), and accessories (8 percent). The Li Ning brand is the company’s key sales contributor (99 percent in 2006, inclusive of 1 percent exports). In 2006, the Li Ning Company achieved $306 million sales revenue in China and seized a market share of 8.7 percent. It ranks among the top-three players, following Nike and Adidas and remaining well ahead of local competitors (its closest peer, Anta, has a 3 percent market share) as well as other international brands (for example, Reebok, Puma). In June 2004, the Li Ning Company reached an important milestone when it became the first domestic sportswear company to be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At the end of 2006, the market value of the company reached $1.629 billion, an increase of 128.5 percent over 2005. Among all sports goods companies, the market value of the Li Ning Company ranks fifth in the world.