Nike Has the Crown. Anta Has the Momentum. Who Will Win China?

As a follow up to yesterday’s post, and by popular demand, I ranked the five biggest sports brands in China by revenue in yuan, for 2025 and for the first half of 2026, using the published results of the major sportswear groups.

Nike is still number one, with about 44 billion yuan in 2025, but its China sales fell about 13% in local currency in the first half of 2026.

Anta's main brand is number two, and Nike's lead over it shrank from 27% in 2025 to 13% in the first half of 2026, mostly because of Nike's decline: Anta itself grew only 4.8%.

adidas grew fastest, at 16% at constant exchange rates, moving from a statistical tie with Li Ning in 2025 to a clear third place.

FILA is fifth, and Anta Sports owns its China business too.

At group level, the growth sits in specialist brands:

• the Anta Sports group's revenue, most of it earned in China, is 2.2 times Nike's China sales and rose 12.9% in the first half. Two-thirds of that growth came from Descente, Kolon Sport, Jack Wolfskin and its other labels, which jumped 44%, partly through acquisitions such as Jack Wolfskin in 2025.

• Amer Sports, the owner of Arc'teryx and Salomon, in which Anta Sports holds a 40% stake, grew 43% in Greater China in 2025 and has now passed Xtep as the fifth-largest group.

• The mass brands are slower: Li Ning grew 2.8%, and Xtep's main brand shrank 2.2% while its Saucony and Merrell unit grew 11%.

Where a brand comes from does not explain this table: the fastest grower and the fastest decliner are both foreign.

#ChinaRetail #ChinaBrands #Sportswear #Nike #adidas

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