Two weeks: a major global partnership announcement, the opening of an ambitious flagship in Shanghai with an entire floor dedicated to premium urban business wear, and the conclusion of Stephen Curry’s China tour with Li-Ning ahead of the first signature shoe from the partnership.
Where is the brand going? We will try to answer that question with experts in the coming weeks. In the meantime, here’s a recap of what has been happening at Li-Ning.
The sequence was tight. Li-Ning’s Loong Store flagship in Shanghai, billed as the first global one, opened Sept. 21. Curry appeared in the brand’s basketball shoes at Warriors media day on Sept. 28, and World Gymnastics, which governs the sport worldwide, announced a partnership running to 2033 on Oct. 4.
World Gymnastics through 2033: the latest announcement
World Gymnastics made the announcement in Bangkok. The partnership runs from October 2026, and Li-Ning will support all eight disciplines and the federation’s major events, supplying clothing, shoes and accessories to participants. Li-Ning makes its debut in the new role at the Rotterdam world championships in artistic gymnastics, then moves to two events in China. The dates to watch:
● Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Rotterdam: Oct. 17 to 25
● Parkour World Cup, Beijing: Oct. 28 to Nov. 1
● Trampoline & Tumbling World Championships, Nanjing: Nov. 4 to 8
The sport is also the founder’s own. Li Ning won six medals at the 1984 Games, three of them gold, and calls the partnership a homecoming.
Federations are not new ground for the brand.
Li-Ning has been involved in international table tennis governance since 2018, when it became the ITTF’s official umpire and referee apparel sponsor, a relationship that later extended to World Table Tennis (WTT), the sport’s commercial arm. In 2025, Li-Ning replaced Anta as the official sports apparel partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee and Chinese sports delegation through 2028.
The shop floor: podium technology for the office
The Shanghai store on Nanjing East Road opened Sept. 21 with the full launch of Gold Label, the line also known as Li-Ning PRIMUS and aimed at what it terms functional business commuting. The second floor, about half of the 1,000-square-meter store, is almost entirely given to it.
The unusual part is where the technology comes from. Several pieces borrow from the podium kit made for China’s delegation at this year’s Asian Games, and, according to Jing Daily, the range includes a temperature-regulating polo made with a fiber derived from aerospace research. The line also carries a joint insignia with theChinese Olympic Committee.
The look is restrained: solid colors, discreet branding and black-and-white running shoes in place of the brand’s usual fluorescent shades. Prices sit above Li-Ning’s mass-market ranges, and the items reported so far run from €52 to more than €200.
The partner, with a shoe still to come
Curry signed with Li-Ning for 10 years in June, following 13 years at Under Armour. The agreement covers basketball, athleisure and golf, lets Curry sign athletes to his label Curry Brand and includes plans for Li-Ning to open stores for it in the US and China, according to ESPN. Curry called it “bigger than a shoe deal, bigger than a signature series.”
Curry’s first China tour for the brand took him to Beijing, Dongguan, Shenzhen and Hong Kong from Sept. 9 to 14. The itinerary included visits to Li-Ning campuses, a stop at the Beijing Li-Ning Center focused on future gear, grassroots basketball at YueBA, a Curry Fan Base in Shenzhen and community events in Hong Kong. After the tour, Li-Ning wrote on Instagram that the story between the two “has only just begun.”
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The product will come later. Curry told CNBC in September that his first Li-Ning signature shoe is due early next year. The rollout so far has included a new Curry Brand logo, a golf shoe shown at Lake Tahoe in July and limited pairs based on Jimmy Butler and Way of Wade lines. Curry said he will wear those shoes until his signature model is ready.
Where is Li-Ning headed to?
Is there a common thread to see across these moves? The Loong flagship may seem very Chinese (but it draws on the visibility acquired with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics), but the agreement with the Gymnastics Federation as well as the carefully timed rollout of the Curry agreement are global in both visibility and credibility.
The revenue line still points home. In the first half of 2026, Li-Ning reported revenue of RMB15,235 million (€1.98 billion), up 2.8 percent, and describes the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including Hong Kong and Macau, as its principal market. Outside the PRC market the report shows only an “other regions” line of RMB189 million (€24 million), or 1.2 percent of revenue, down from 1.7 percent a year earlier; Li-Ning gives no breakdown for Western markets and says only that overseas sales account for less than 10 percent.
The ambition sits close to the company’s start. Li Ning, nicknamed the “Prince of Gymnastics,” founded the brand in 1990 on the strength of his athletic career, and the company describes “Anything is Possible” as its guiding slogan.
Does “Anything is Possible” now mean going beyond China, and if so, where? We will investigate with expert insiders in the coming weeks.
Eastern views
Asia-Pacific insights for the sporting goods industry
Analysis, insights, and expert perspectives on the sporting goods industry across Asia-Pacific — covering market trends, manufacturing, retail, and brand strategy from China to Southeast Asia to Oceania. With Jakarta-based contributing editor Yohana Belinda.
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