Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning plans to open the first retail outlet outside the Asian market in the United States in January. A top executive said the move is intended to test the water because the company aims to build itself into an internationally renowned brand within a decade. Li Ning brand in mainland China's main competitors include Nike and Adidas. CEO Zhang Zhiyong said in an interview with Reuters that Li Ning plans to open the first U.S. retail outlet in Portland, Oregon's most populous city. The company already has a product development center in the area. Li Ning brand by the former Olympic gymnastics champion Li Ning holding. He had started the torch at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. The company has retail stores in Hong Kong and Singapore and plans to open 70-100 badminton stores in Southeast Asia by the end of this year. Zhang Zhiyong said, "We have R & D center in Portland, which is close to our supply chain." He also said that the United States will be a major market for the company, especially during the five-year plan from 2014 to 2018. Li Ning brand is determined to 2018 to become one of the world's top five sports brands, when more than 20% of revenue will come from overseas markets. Zhang Zhiyong said that Li Ning brand awareness in the United States is not high, so the shop aims to "test the water." Currently, Li Ning mainly focuses on basketball, badminton and table tennis. The company plans to accelerate its growth and open up overseas markets through its own products or acquisitions. Zhang Zhiyong said, "In fact, both roads can be mergers, then there is a certain risk of the merger, but also relatively fast ... We believe the equipment market is still a chance." Zhang Zhiyong did not say what type of sports equipment the company wants to acquire, but said sportswear with "oriental elements" will be the company's first product to be launched in the US on the "Taiji" theme. High earnings continued Li Ning's price-earnings ratio has been high, is 22 times 2010 forecast income. In contrast, its competitor Anta is 19 times, China's move is 17 times. The smaller competitor Xtep's P / E ratio is 10.8 times the 2010 projected revenue, while the 361 degree is 7.8 times. Some economic analysts because of the high price-earnings ratio and Li Ning's rating as "hold" that its future growth has more or less reflected in the stock price. But Zhang Zhiyong gave a different view on this. He said, "I believe our growth will continue to be the highest in the industry." He had previously expected China's sports equipment market to grow 16% in 2010, while Li Ning's brand growth will exceed that expectation. Mr Cheung said he expects retail sales in mainland China to account for about 60% of the company's revenue as the company opens new stores in Beijing and competes directly with overseas brands. Although Li Ning's market share in China is not far behind that of international brands, there is still a long way to go in terms of brand value because the Chinese company is still limited to China at present, which is Li Ning's positive hope of "going global" the reason. Since the beginning of the year, the stock price of Li Ning has risen more than 1.2 times, significantly outperforming the 55% increase of the Hang Seng Index over the same period.