Deputy looks to keep winter sports momentum

In 30 years, Ding Shizhong has grown from a son of a shoemaker to a deputy to the National People's Congress, the nation's top legislature. All the while, he has transformed his Jinjiang, Fujian province-based family workshop into a global sportswear company, ranked No 3 in the world in terms of market value.

In his legislative proposal this year, Ding is calling for more efforts to ensure the continuity of policies supporting ice and snow sports beyond the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. "To further develop winter sports and boost domestic gear brands, we will encourage more small and medium-sized enterprises to blossom in the industry by implementing policies to lower costs, add more financial and tax support and improve financing services," said Ding, 52.

Ding is CEO and chairman of the board of directors of the Hong Kong-listed Anta Sports, which has been hailed as a successful growth model for Chinese homegrown brands competing in the global market.

Propelled by innovations, the rise of China Chic, or guochao－the phenomenon of young consumers becoming confident in domestic brands featuring designs mixed with elements from traditional culture－and the acquisition of leading international sports brands, the company's revenues increased from 16.7 billion yuan ($2.64 billion) in 2017 to 35.5 billion yuan in 2020, with market value exceeding HK$500 billion ($64 billion) last year.