(Hong Kong, March 16, 2006) - Li Ning Company Limited (“Li Ning” or the “Company”; stock code: 2331), a leading sports brand enterprise in the PRC, announced an official marketing partnership agreement with the Association Tennis Professional (“ATP”), the world’s premier men’s professional tennis tournament association. Under the agreement, Li Ning will collaborate with ATP on the manufacture and sale, brand promotion and marketing of professional tennis products in China. The two parties will also work hand-in-hand for the promotion of tennis tournaments to accelerate the popularity of the sport in China.
Mr. Etienne de Villiers, Executive Chairman of ATP, showed excitement on this collaboration. “We are pleased to join hands with Li Ning to form this unbeatable partnership. Both Li Ning and ATP are committed to promoting the development of tennis in China. We believe that by leveraging on the strengths of Li Ning and ATP, we will bring revolutionary changes to the tennis courts in China,” he said.
During the seven-year period as specified in the agreement, Li Ning will be authorized the exclusive right for the manufacture, sale and marketing of tennis products including apparel, footwear and accessories co-branded by LI-NING and ATP. The Tennis Masters Cup held in Shanghai later this year is posed to stimulate the sale of souvenir products. New co-branded products of Li Ning and ATP will appear in this event as well as future ATP events as a part of the promotion campaign. The promotion and marketing activities for tennis tournaments will be in accordance with the strategic marketing needs of Li Ning. ATP and Li Ning will co-host the LI-NING ATP Challenger Series and the LI-NING ATP Smash Tennis tournaments, which are expected to offer young tennis athletes plenty of development opportunities. In addition, ATP will also assist Li Ning to identify and sign up tennis players for endorsement purposes.
Li Ning Company, as a leader in the China sports goods industry, has been committed to promoting sports development in China. Its mission is to be a world leading sports product brand. On signing the agreement with ATP, Mr. Zhang Zhiyong, CEO of Li Ning Company, said, “This agreement marks a major step in bringing the LI-NING brand under international spotlight, strengthening our brand competitiveness in the global marketplace, and in consolidating our foothold in the tennis product segment, in terms of both professional functions as well as trendy designs. We are pleased to see that we are striding towards our mission of being a top tier brand internationally.”
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