ABSTRACT
In China, the exchange of sporting goods and services on a large scale and the organisation of events aimed at sustaining those exchanges are both recent and rapidly growing phenomena. This chapter analyses how the Chinese and foreign entities integrated into the global commodity channel and led to a high degree of interdependence. It ultimately explains how those Chinese and foreign entities are competitors when they have to be, collaborators when opportunities exist, but also sometimes have adversarial relationships. The influence of China joining the WTO on sporting goods production and exports is particularly obvious starting from 2002 and 2003. Sporting goods manufacturing and commercialisation remain the most economically prominent segment of the Chinese sports industry. With the Olympics, several foreign franchises and companies have invested or organised sports events in China to broaden their audience and increase their revenue. Chinese sporting goods brands are no longer solely focused on the domestic market or subordinated sub-contractors.
