Adidas plans China market surge

Adidas (ADS.BER) is planning to open 2,500 new stores and expand its sales network to 1,400 cities on the mainland in a bid to claw back market share lost to foreign and domestic sportswear makers, the Financial Times said. Adidas said it wants to penetrate further inland and open stores in cities with as few as 500,000 people and by 2015, have stores in cities with populations of just 50,000. "We will be in seventh-tier cities by 2015," said Christophe Bezu, Adidas managing director for greater China. The German company currently has 5,600 stores across 550 cities. Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer said that the company’s China surge should result in reclaiming its number two spot in the market behind Nike (NKE.NYSE), pushing Chinese sportswear manufacturer Li Ning (2331.HK) back into third place.