Li Ning has taken a more “conservative” outlook on its fiscal 2011 growth forecast based on what it describes as tough conditions in the Chinese retail sector for sporting goods. Li Ning’s order book has fallen by about 6 percent in a year. Gains of more than 8 percent in average selling prices were offset by a 7 percent drop in apparel unit sales and an 8 percent drop in footwear units, due to higher discounts given to the trade. Li Ning indicated that China’s retail environment has become more challenging and that it was taking steps to clean up its distribution by eliminating smaller sub-distributors, enhancing product lifecycle management and increasing discounts to wholesale distributors. Li Ning said the moves were intended to reduce discounting in the marketplace and put more focus on increasing comparable store sales.