Lining, A Gymnastics Champion, Is More Willing To Be An Athlete Than A Decision Maker.

In 1989, he joined the Jianlibao group from Guangdong after retiring from the most prestigious athletes in China. He founded the Lining brand in second years, and then in 1997, Jianlibao beverage, which he endorsed, shot red from three rivers to the whole world.

After more than 20 years' efforts, the "Lining brand" has become the first brand of China's sporting goods. The company has established a strong supply chain management system and distribution and retail network in the whole country, and has opened up business in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Europe.

In more than 20 years, Lining has successfully pformed from a world champion to a successful private entrepreneur.

His pformation story is also regarded as an inspiring case for athletes to climb the new peak of life. The label of "nationality" posted on him has made people expect more of the Li Ning Co he steered.

Reporters interviewed the famous gymnastics champion, Lining sporting goods Co., Ltd., chairman of the board of directors Lining.

On the intention of setting up Li Ning Co: Chinese athletes want to win their own clothes.

Reporter: How did you join Jianlibao at that time?

Lining: in 1984, Li Jingwei saw a sports drink formula, and Jianlibao was born.

Since the development and production of Jianlibao in 1984, under the planning and operation of Li Jingwei, it has been designated as the national training team to designate drinks. In the same year's Losangeles Olympic Games, it was designated as the designated beverage for Chinese athletes.

It was because of this opportunity that I met Li Jingwei.

At first I thought of setting up a gymnastic school in Shenzhen.

Li Jingwei told me that only by supporting the economy, we must have the backing of the economy. This is a stable and long-term development idea. He suggested that I should develop the sports by means of the real economy.

Li Jingwei invited me to join Jianlibao with great pleasure. His idea is to promote Jianlibao by my personal star effect, and to produce Lining sports products through the financial strength of Jianlibao.

Li Jingwei's hospitality, the brand of Jianlibao, the potential of China's sports industry and the vision that Li Jingwei described at that time really touched me deeply.

Reporter: only one year after joining the brand of Jianlibao, you founded the Li Ning Co. What was the intention of establishing Li Ning Co at that time?

Lining: when I am an athlete, the spirit of sports and the spirit of Olympic Games inspire me to become the world champion and Olympic champion.

After retiring, I have a dream to make a great Chinese sports brand so that Chinese athletes can wear the sports clothes of their own national brands to take the podium.

I hope that I can promote the development of sports in China through this brand, so that more and more Chinese people can participate in sports and feel the spirit of sports and the Olympic spirit.

Talk about the love of Guangdong: Guangdong has a special feeling.

Reporter: what memorable experiences did you have during your work and life in Guangdong? What was your impression of Guangdong?

Lining: I grew up in Guangxi, but my career started in Guangdong.

The brand of Lining and I are closely related to Guangdong from the beginning of brand and company establishment. I have a special feeling for Guangdong, and regard Guangdong as my second hometown. As the frontier of reform and opening up, we can say that Guangdong has made the Lining brand.

In 1993, the Li Ning Co moved to Beijing, and the connection between Lining and me brand and Guangdong continued. In March 1998, Li Ning Co first took the lead in Guangdong Foshan to build the first design and development center of sportswear and shoes in China.

Guangdong is an open and inclusive place. As the forefront of China's reform and development, it is very active and energetic in all aspects of economic development, humanities, and so on. I like it very much, because I have lived and worked in Guangdong for some time, so I feel very cordial.

Reporter: do you speak Cantonese in Guangdong? Do you usually come back to Guangdong?

Lining: Cantonese will say something, though it is not so smooth, but there should be no problem communicating with Cantonese.

Usually for work reasons, I will go to Guangdong from time to time and see old friends and so on.

Reporter: you have practiced gymnastics in Foshan, and later established a Lining gymnastic school in Foshan.

Did this experience affect you as a world champion?

Lining: first of all, I think sports should be a part of life. If you have the chance to become the top class in the world, you can take it as a career, but more people regard it as a part of your life.

I am not a coach now, but in fact, as long as the training method is right, we may not need to practise 8 hours and 12 hours every day. When Foshan gymnastic school was training children, they only need two hours training every day. There may be more opportunities on weekends, and 4 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday.

Many people say that practicing gymnastics has suffered a lot. I don't think so. I think gymnastics has brought me a lot of happiness.

This mentality made me more peaceful in the competition.

Talking about Transformation: more willing to be an athlete than a decision maker.

Reporter: as the helmsman of an athlete and an enterprise, where are the similarities and differences?

Lining: in fact, life is constantly changing, and things are different in different stages.

When I was young, I decided more about gymnastics than I decided to myself. I could get more support and help myself from outside.

Today, you have to consider a lot of business, not that I have to decide myself. You have to decide that the team, this investment, business must conform to the laws of business, the ability of the team, the direction of the team, the way you want to find it, the ability to combine the team's ability and the coordination in the final process.

Reporter: is it more difficult to be an enterprise decision-maker than an athlete? Because athletes may be more focused on their own competitions. Policymakers should consider many problems and use their brains every day.

Lining: both are irreplaceable. Just like you climb mountains, maybe the athletes are on the last 800 meters, 80 meters to the summit of Himalaya Range, but there are many supporting systems behind them.

Now I am an enterprise decision-maker, I must consider how to make a resource, where to invest in the initial investment, how to identify the business mode, the direction of strategic strategy, the combination of teams, how to create incentives, and how to coordinate, these are all problems.

This is not a good comparison. Of course, you have to say that I would like to return to the athlete's age and return to my youth.

Reporter: do you have such a great success in business? Is it related to your athlete's strong physique?

Lining: I think it has a lot to do with it, and I have read some research reports, such as many business managers like Harvard Business School, who have made more commercial achievements and managed larger platforms. They used to participate in sports teams or even team leaders at school.

Reporter: can you describe your life for a day?

Lining: my day is ordinary and busy. I came to the company before 9 a.m. and prepared ahead of schedule. From 9:30, I worked with different teams to participate in different operation meetings, regularly reviewed the business, fully grasps the progress of the reform, and provides appropriate guidance, focusing on the management of the retail level, and promoting the implementation of the company change plan.

In addition to participating in daily business work, as chairman, I am more likely to grasp the strategic direction of the company at the strategic level and make the right choice.

In specific business, he will participate in some important business decisions with other board members.

Talk about company breakthroughs: value online sales very much

Reporter: Why did you give up sponsoring the Chinese gymnastic team? Is it because the company is short of money?

Lining: actually more companies and more businesses are interested in gymnastics for the Chinese gymnastic team. In this way, the development of Chinese gymnastics will be abandoned and the Chinese gymnastics team should be given up.

Choose the decision to make.

Today, with the accelerated development of sports socialization and marketization in China, the consumer's passion and understanding of sports has reached a whole new height. We can no longer rely solely on past simple sponsorship strategies.

Today, Li Ning Co has broken through the strategy of pure sports sponsorship and embarked on a new stage of sports marketing and event experience, product experience and retail experience.

Reporter: at present, domestic sports brand competition is fierce. How does Li Ning Co break through?

Lining: in the short term, the Chinese sporting goods industry is facing the problem of homogenization, and the problem of rapid development, high inventory and rising costs due to the widespread use of the product wholesale mode in the domestic apparel industry.

But in the long run, the integration of domestic market and the expansion of domestic demand are still the long-term driving force for the development of sports goods industry.

As a leading professional sports brand in China, China's national fitness program, urbanization process and consumers' yearning for high quality products will continue to provide development opportunities for Li Ning Co.

Reporter: how does Li Ning Co deal with the relationship between offline stores and online sales?

Lining: Based on the current market environment and the development trend of online shopping, it is common to set up online shopping mall as a supplement to traditional sales mode.

For us, the establishment of an online sales platform is also in line with the trend to adapt to market development and consumer demand.

Taking into account the updated development of online and offline consumption patterns, Lining established and developed an online sales platform based on Lining's official mall and other online platform brand self-stores to meet the needs of different shopping habits.

At present, the online sales business is still in the development stage, and it is a business platform valued by the company.

Offline sales are still the main force and foothold of Lining's brand marketing. Whether it is the scale of sales from the current line or the company's input in this field, the importance and core status of the entity store in Li Ning Co can not be shaken.

Reporter: you sit steady on Lining.

Lining: my goal is to strive to turn the Lining brand into a great Chinese sports brand, a world-class brand, a brand that is loyal to sports value and sports connotation in essence. This is also my personal dream, and I will work hard and pay for this dream.

I have confidence.

Talk about your success: don't want to owe it to the previous light.