The Chinese sports brand taking on Nike and Adidas

Now one of the biggest sportswear firms, Anta's rise follows a playbook adopted by many Chinese giants.

As the 2026 World Cup approaches, retail giants Nike and Adidas are ramping up their offensive, aiming to capitalize on a tournament expected to inject significant energy into the global sportswear category. Nike holds a larger base of sales, but analysts see Adidas, which has been aggressively leaning into World Cup product, marketing, and merchandising since Q4 2025, positioned as the potential 'biggest product winner' of the event.

China’s rapid economic opening in the late 1980s created a wave of young entrepreneurs, including high school dropout Ding Shizhong, who arrived in Beijing with 600 pairs of shoes to sell. Using a relative’s factory, Ding began producing footwear for other companies before building his own workshop. That early venture eventually evolved into Anta, now one of China’s biggest sportswear companies. Founded in 1991 in Jinjiang, Fujian province, Anta started as a small manufacturer supplying global brands.

Anta Sports is making a major play for a 29% stake in Puma, reportedly offering to buy out the Pinault family’s holding company, Artemis. The Chinese sportswear giant, known for backing the Amer Sports consortium including Salomon, Arc'teryx, has already secured financing for the acquisition, though negotiations have currently stalled. This move follows Anta’s proven playbook of acquiring Western assets to scale globally.