Adidas CEO points to outdoor and street dance as China sales climb 16%
Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said on October 11, 2026, at a media briefing in Shanghai that new fashionable outdoor apparel and street dance can sustain the brand's growth in China. Adidas China sales rose 16% year on year in the first half of 2026, according to the company's July half-year report, as cited by the Qatar Tribune.
The Qatar Tribune piece, published October 12, appears to reprint a South China Morning Post report. We could not open the full SCMP article, so the wording and quotes below come from the Qatar Tribune version.
Gulden said: "We see that there's a running boom and an outdoor boom [in China]." On street dance, he said it is one of the "new sports" that "look to be relevant for the young people in the universities."
The stake is a market of heightened competition, where Adidas faces both domestic and international rivals.
China sales hit $4.2 billion in 2025 while outdoor apparel grew 17%
Adidas China sales rose 13% year on year in 2025 to $4.2 billion, according to company figures cited by the Qatar Tribune. These are company-reported numbers and we have not audited them.
The category Adidas is chasing is growing fast. China's outdoor apparel market grew 17% to 143 billion yuan (US$21.4 billion) in 2025, according to Kung Fu Data.
Gulden also told the 38th Shanghai Mayor's International Business Leaders Advisory Council meeting that Adidas has posted high-quality growth in China for 13 consecutive quarters, per China News Service. That is the company's own characterization. He said he is "very optimistic" about China, especially Shanghai's sports and sportswear market, and cited rising interest in running, outdoor, street dance and tennis.
Terrex becomes Shanchuanli as Adidas tries to rebuild running against Hoka, On and Brooks
In July, Adidas rebranded its 15-year-old Terrex line in China as Shanchuanli, which means "among the mountains and rivers," and designed a new logo for it. Terrex is the Adidas outdoor line, and the new name gives it a Chinese-language identity.
Running is the other front. The Qatar Tribune says Adidas is trying to rebuild its running business against Hoka, On and Brooks.
Gulden said Adidas will keep opening new stores and strengthen its e-commerce operations in China.
Adidas pitches local decision-making against Nike, Puma, Anta and Xtep
The Qatar Tribune names Nike, Puma, Anta and Xtep as rivals. Anta and Xtep are domestic Chinese brands.
Adidas's answer is local control. Gulden said the company has about 160 designers in Shanghai and will invest more in Chinese sport, including local events, teams and federations. Local ideas, he said, are driven by local teams: "not Germany telling the China team what to do, but the reverse," according to China News Service.
What the story cannot say is whether the pitch is working against rivals. We found no market-share figures for Adidas or its local competitors in China, so it is not possible to tell whether Adidas is gaining or losing share. Sales growth of 16% shows demand, not share.
For a global rival's view of running demand, see Nike's sales slide again, and running is the one engine still firing.
The figures at a glance
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Adidas China sales, 2025 | $4.2 billion, up 13% (company-reported) | Qatar Tribune |
| Adidas China sales, first half 2026 | Up 16% year on year (company-reported) | Qatar Tribune, citing July half-year report |
| China outdoor apparel market, 2025 | 143 billion yuan (about $21.4 billion), up 17% | Kung Fu Data, via Qatar Tribune |
| Consecutive quarters of growth cited by Gulden | 13 (company characterization) | China News Service |
Next to watch: Adidas's next results and any independent market-share data for China.
Sources
- Qatar Tribune: Adidas courts China's young consumers
- China News Service via Sina Finance: （投资中国）阿迪达斯CEO：中国市场充满能量
- South China Morning Post: Adidas: Latest News and Updates
This article was written with AI by the Hopone Newsroom, from the sources it cites. Figures marked “Hopone calculation” are our own arithmetic from those sources. Nothing here is investment advice.