Local labels go global with their workforces

Starting from 2017, Anta Group has begun to recruit international employees in sizable numbers systematically, said Xiong Ling, chief human resources officer of the company.

Xiong said international professionals are brought to the company for the purpose of improving design capacity and branding power.

"The integration of international personnel could be painstaking," said Xiong, who has over 20 years of working experience at multinationals. "It requires taking patience and investing for the long term."

With more Chinese brands going global, there will be more international professionals joining Chinese companies. This is a trend, she said.

Adam Zhang, founder of Key-Solution Sports Consulting Company, said the application of global resources in domestic sportswear brands has played an even more significant role in winning local consumers.

For example, leading domestic sports brand Li Ning has recovered from a continuous decline since 2018 thanks to its adaptation of Chinese character elements with global design techniques and a promotion campaign on the international fashion stage.

Last year, Li Ning recorded a net profit of 1.49 billion yuan ($210.4 million), up 109.6 percent year-on-year. The firm was boosted by reshaping its branded images through the introduction of Chinese cultural elements.

Its revenue in global markets dropped from 2.4 percent in 2018 to 1.9 percent last year, a sign the company has focused more on the domestic market.

Since participating in New York Fashion Week in 2018, the company has gradually discovered the connection between Li Ning's DNA that is rooted in the rise of the Chinese sports sector and its link to Chinese culture, said Li Ning Co Ltd.

Li Ning's management has decided to unleash the potential of local designers to explore their breakthroughs in the professional, technological and most trendy fields.

Professionalism and fashion are two features for the single-brand-focused sportswear producer, which has multiple categories ranging from basketball, running, training, badminton and casual wear, to get more engaged with younger consumers, allowing it to enhance collaboration with top designers and other trendy brands.

"Simply adding some international designs and calling them innovations are far from enough," said Zhang from Key-Solution Sports Consulting.

Generation Z (people born between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s) consumers have synced with global information, but they have a high interest in Chinese culture and possess a strong sense of pride.

"Brands have to recreate by organically mixing global narratives with localized elements," he said.