The Beijing Olympics are only a few months away. In the meantime, businesses in the global sport system are poised to test the potential of the Chinese market – specifically from the 24^th to the 26^th February, when the Chinese capital will host the 2008 edition of Ispo China, the International Tradeshow for Sports, Fashion and Lifestyle Brands in Asia - Winter Show. The fair, now at its third edition and already hailed as this year’s most important sector event in Asia, will take place at the China International Exhibition Centre in Beijing. The past edition recorded over 12,000 attendees and showcased over 300 brands from 20 countries.

Italian sporting goods manufacturers, already present at the fair’s first two editions, planned to reinforce their presence ahead of the great international attraction represented by the next Olympic Games: the attendance of sport delegations from all over the world is a unique opportunity to promote the image of “Made in Italy” sporting goods. Towards the late 90s the sector entered a mature phase, confirming its global leadership for product quality and contributing to engrain – even in the sports sector – the creativity, design quality and innovation which characterise all Italian products.

Thanks to the Action plan envisaged by the operational agreement signed in 2007 between the Italian Ministry for International Trade, the Italian Trade Committee (ICE) and Assosport (the trade association which brings together over 160 sector companies and over 350 sporting goods brands) – Italian sporting goods businesses will return to ISPO China with an official delegation. The objective is to intensify and increase Italian companies’ presence in the local market, which looks increasingly promising thanks to the constant rise in the number of high-income consumers, which is potentially even greater in the sporting goods sector.

The participation of the Italian delegation appears even more strategic given the growing importance of Chinese consumers in the sportswear space: the success achieved by the fair’s first two editions – which took place in Shanghai in March 2006 and in Beijing in March 2007 – confirmed the growing interest of the Chinese public for the sporting goods market, also as a result of the increasing popularity of sporting activities prompted by the 2008 Olympics. During the past year, according to statistics by Euro Asia Consulting, the Chinese sporting goods market was worth around 54 billion dollars ( 97.1% compared to 2001).