Under Armour continues to grow its international revenue and as part of its expansion plans, the company is planning to focus further on the world's second-largest economy, China.
"China is the big machine in the region," Jason Archer, Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, said. The company is regrouping to further leverage on the massive Chinese market and Archer will be relocating from Shanghai to Hong Kong in July as part of the scheme, the South China Morning Post reported.
For Archer, Beijing's increasing interest in the sport and wellness sectors will help boost Under Armour's China market base. "If you combine a lot of the external focus on the region, as well as the Chinese government investing in sport, in health and wellness. That is just exciting for us - the macro landscape," he noted.
The latest data revealed that sales in Asia saw a hike of 61 percent while American revenue dropped by five percent, prompting the sports giant to keep up with its focus on the region for the next five years.
The sport and wellness company announced that China will be the main focus in Asia-Pacific as the company plans to more than double its current number of stores in the region over the next five years.
China's sportswear market has been exemplifying progress over the past couple of years due to Beijing's support policies for the industry. It is expected that the industry will expand further to around $58.2 billion by 2023. Last year, the Chinese sportswear industry was valued at $40.1 billion.
While Under Armour has acknowledged that it is smaller than rivals Nike and Adidas, the company said it will set eyes on expansion to keep up with the competition by establishing its Asia-Pacific regional center in Hong Kong.
The company's continued interest in China appears to be a direct shift from reported plans in December that Under Armour will shift production away from the Asian country due to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. It was reported at that time that the sports and wellness giant will redirect most of its production to other Asian countries such as Cambodia and the Philippines.
In other news, the New York-listed firm received recognition for its international labor practices. According to The Baltimore Sun, Under Armour secured an approval stamp from The Fair Labor Association, reflecting the company's efforts in improving factory work conditions for its global plants including those in China.
The FLA accreditation report noted that Under Armour's labor program showed strengths in segments such as protection of workers, work environment improvements, regular training held under global workplace standards, and mediums through which international employees can report complaints.
