Anta Tops China Sportswear Market, Pushes Global Expansion with U.S. Debut

Anta’s grip on China’s sportswear market has become strong enough to redraw the global competition map. Euromonitor data cited in 2025 put the company at 23% share in China, ahead of Nike at 20.7%, Li-Ning at 9.4% and Adidas at 8.7%, a ranking that shows how a homegrown brand built in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, has moved from challenger to market leader.

Founded in 1991 and listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2007, Anta has grown by assembling a portfolio that reaches well beyond its core ANTA label. Its stable now includes FILA, DESCENTE, KOLON SPORT, JACK WOLFSKIN and MAIA ACTIVE, and it is the largest shareholder of Amer Sports, which owns Arc’teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Peak Performance and Atomic. That structure has given Anta both breadth and reach, combining mass-market scale in China with exposure to premium outdoor and performance categories overseas.

The financial numbers underline the pace of that expansion. In 2024, revenue rose 13.6% to RMB70.826 billion, operating profit increased 8% to RMB16.595 billion and net profit reached RMB15.6 billion. Even after stripping out capital gains tied to Amer Sports’ listing, net profit was still RMB11.9 billion, up 17%. Anta said revenue in the first half of 2025 reached RMB38.54 billion, up 14.3% from a year earlier, while the company reported about 65,500 employees by the end of June 2025. It also said it operated more than 10,000 stores in China.

Anta’s next challenge is no longer just domestic scale. In February 2025, it opened its first U.S. outlet, a flagship store in Beverly Hills, a symbolic move into the world’s most visible consumer market. Founder and chairman Ding Shizhong has long defined the company’s ambition in global terms. In 2005, he said: “We don’t want to be the Nike of China, but the Anta of the world.”

That line now looks less aspirational than strategic. Anta’s rise shows how Chinese sportswear companies can combine domestic dominance, brand acquisition and overseas investments to close the gap with Western giants. The company’s 2025 purchase of a 29% stake in Puma sharpened expectations that more deals could follow. For Nike and Adidas, the threat is not only a stronger rival in China, but a Chinese competitor building the scale, brand portfolio and financial firepower to compete across the next decade of global retail.