CRI听力:Outdoor Equipment Market Thrives in China

I'm currently standing in an Outdoors specialty retailer in Beijing. Several customers have entered the store looking to purchase shoes, clothes and equipment. So, what standards do these shoppers have when choosing products designed for the great outdoors?

"Waterproof and breathable. Common clothes don't have these functions."

"People who are in their 40s like to choose comfortable shoes. The shoes are also hard wearing and skid proof. A few years ago when I was younger, I wore these shoes to do outdoor activities. I rarely go to the mountains anymore, but I still wear them, because they are so comfortable."

"I like this pair of outdoor gloves because they are windproof. The cotton gloves are not comfortable. Outdoor gloves are manufactured using the latest technology."

"I don't take part in outdoor activities, but I like to wear jackets designed for the outdoors. This jacket is warmer and is light weight."

The sales of outdoor equipment have benefited from the growth of outdoor recreation activities in China. Originating in the west, the concept of outdoor recreation came to China in the 1990s. At first, people associated outdoor recreation with journeys through the wilderness, off the beaten path; climbing snow covered mountains; or traversing the desert.

These outdoor activities are full of challenges and redefine the limits of the human body. But as time went by, the concept of outdoor activities came to encompass any leisure pursuit carried out within natural settings. Partaking in outdoor activities has come to represent a new choice of life style, and has thus allowed the outdoor equipment industry to take off in China.

In 2001, China's market scale of outdoor products was 40 to 50 million yuan, but in 2006 the market grew to 2.6 billion yuan. In 2011, the retail sales of outdoor products amounted to more than 10 billion yuan.

Zhang Heng is the General Manager of Sanfo Outdoors, one of China's earliest and leading specialty outdoor retailers in China. He talked about the rapid development of the market for outdoor equipment in China.

"In the past five years, China's outdoor equipment market has enjoyed a 45% growth rate every year. The development is amazingly fast. But the two major outdoor gear markets, in Europe and the US, enjoy combined retail sales of more than 100 billion yuan. Compared to them, China's market has broad prospects."

China's thriving outdoors industry has led to many foreign brands entering the market hoping to gain a piece of the pie, such as The North Face from the U.S., Jack Wolfskin of Germany, and Arcteryx from Canada. Zhang Heng of Sanfo Outdoors says these foreign brands have dominated the Chinese market for the past couple of years.

"Five years ago, 90% of the Chinese market was occupied by foreign brands like Columbia and The North Face. The foreign brands still take a bigger share of the market, but domestic brands, such as Toread and KAILAS are also developing very fast."

The achievements of domestic outdoor gear companies are extremely impressive. Zhang Wei, director of the Brand Building Department of Toread Outdoors, looks back at the company's performance in 2011.

"The total revenue of our company in 2011 reached 750 million yuan, with a net margin of 100 million yuan. We have more than 1000 branch stores nationwide. We've been the sponsor of China's South Pole Science Exploration Team three times, and we'd like to place a greater emphasis upon technology in the future."

Nowadays, partaking in outdoor activities is regarded as lifestyle choice which helps people to relieve work-related stress. Industry insiders predict that this newly emerging market will undergo rapid development in the next couple of years and reach the scale of the European and American markets within 8 to 10 years time.

For CRI, I'm Zhang Shuangfeng.