Anta may not be a household name in the West yet, but it has more than 10,000 shops in China and sponsors top athletes like freestyle skier Eileen Gu. In February, it opened its first US outlet - a flagship store in Los Angeles' upscale Beverly Hills area. The company's global push, which comes as Donald Trump aims to bring factory jobs back to the US with tariffs, highlights just how essential and competitive Chinese supply chains have become for manufacturing. The rise of Anta - which means "safe steps" - is not exactly unique. Decades of being the world's factory have given several ambitious Chinese companies the opportunity to take on the very firms they once counted as customers. Founded in 1991, Anta began far from the glitz and the glamour of Beverly Hills as a small manufacturer in Jinjiang city in the south-eastern province of Fujian. Jinjiang grew rapidly from a quiet agricultural county into the "shoe capital" of the world as part of the government's plan to create specific industries in different provinces. Anta is now eyeing markets in the West. It runs more than 12,000 shops in China. The company also has more than 460 outlets outside of the country, with plans to have 1,000 shops operating in South East Asia alone in the next three years. But Nike, which still has the biggest market share in sports footwear, only has 1,000 shops across the world.
BBQ - Have you heard of Anta?
