Born in 1971, Ding Shizhong is a real Self-made man.

When he was only 16 years old, this young man started working to help his family financially. His father was then a shoe manufacturer, shoes that Ding Shizhong offered to resell later. This is where his love shoes came from. He worked for several companies but always on  and passion for the same sector : shoes.

In 1994, his dream of creating his own sport shoe brand finally saw the light of day.

The entrepreneur launched ANTA Sports with his brother Ding Shijia. The company was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2007. But it was not that easy for the two brothers. First promised to a promising future, ANTA Sport has experienced a major boom thanks to the 2008 Olympic Games and the new interest of Chinese people in sporting goods. However, the path to success was filled with obstacles. Many competitors are setting up in Jinjiang to produce their sport shoes. Supply is increasing and the market is quickly saturated. Ding Shizhong had to close many of his stores in order to fight the crisis led by this overabundance of inventories.

The businessman then understands that he will have to quickly distinguish his brand from competitors.

The manager set up an omni-channel strategy based on several successful brands. Indeed, Ding Shizhong was convinced that adopting a multi-brand strategy targeting several consumer segments would be the solution to the development of his brand. Therefore, the company followed a multi-brand and onmi-channel strategy - increasing its client base through acquisitions of international high-end sportswear brands that take advantage of sales on the national market like FILA, DESCENTE, SPRANDI, KINGKOW and KOLON Sport . In 2019, Amer Sports, a Finnish sportswear group that owns internationally recognized brands, such as Salomon (famous ski and outdor brand), were bought by Mascot Bidco Oy, an international consortium led by the Anta Sports group for $4.6bn. This acquisition allowed Anta Sports to develop a solid base in Europe and North America and establish an international presence.

When it first started, ANTA Sports brand mainly copied its models on Western brands by offering low prices.

But little by little, China was opening up, the domestic market was growing ($43bn today) and ANTA Sport gained in competence. The group evolved from a competition strategy on prices to a value and innovation strategy, the only way for this type of business to take on an international dimension.
The advent of sneakers, the popularization of sport in China these past years and the recent Sino-American tensions contributed to the group’s success. Young Chinese, who are more and more sensitive to local brands, have welcomed this entry-level move. 1/4 of fashion sales are made by digital in China, which favors ANTA Sports more compared to foreign brands. Finally, their local factories, allowed them to quickly adapt to trends. Nowadays, ANTA Sports is one of the leading sports retailers in China. The group is mainly pulled up by its domestic sales. ANTA Sports owns a 15% market share, 3rd place behind Nike (23%) and Adidas (20%). Like these two big sport giants, ANTA Sports is a sponsor of many top athletes (Chinese and others).

Ding Shizhong wishes to « build the LVMH of sport ».

A true self-made man,  he is part of country’s star bosses. ANTA Sports was ranked among the 20 most profitable companies in the world with companies such as LVMH, Inditex and Kering. Very committed, the group recently made a donation of $1.4bn in research against Covid-19. Ding Shizhong is Chairman and is responsible for all of the group’s business strategies, planning and business development. His big brother, Ding Shijia, is Vice-Chairman. Ding Shizong is married, has two children and currently lives in Quanzhou, China.