Decathlon launches a new inflatable kayak at the third China International Import Expo.
A senior executive with Decathlon, the world's largest comprehensive sporting goods company from France, said he expects high growth in China's sports market in the coming years.
Pascal Bizard, senior vice president of Decathlon China, said his company is very optimistic about the country's sports market at a product launch event during this year's China International Import Expo.
"Currently the sports market in China represents only 1 percent of GDP, but it accounts for 2 to 3 percent in developed countries," he said. "We believe that it will reach 4 percent within the next 15 years, which means that about 45 percent of the residents in China will practice sports every day or every week."
This, Bizard said, will be a "trillion-level business and market," that will make China the biggest sports market in the world.
Bizard said the winter sports market in China also has huge potential as the country is poised to host the next winter Olympics.
"Surprisingly, among the 15 cities in China where winter sports are most popular, half of them are located between the south and the middle of the country, which means that enthusiasm for winter sports doesn't look at climate or geography," he said. "We believe that China will be a mass market for winter sports and we're going to invest in it."
Bizard said his company also believes that it can work with partners to create a winter sports ecosystem which convenes sports and hotels.
Bizard called the CIIE "China's highest level of sincerity in opening-up."
"It's a large stage for us to share and innovate and to connect with people," he said.
On Thursday, Decathlon made the world debut of its new inflatable kayak at the CIIE. The kayak is foldable into a backpack of 200 liters and weighs 18 kilograms.