LI Ning Sports Apparel Company, a subsidiary of Li Ning Co. Ltd. registered in Spain, has been bankrupt, local media reported Sunday.

    The subsidiary of Li Ning announced the news of bankruptcy and business reconstruction Friday, according to El País, a national newspaper in Spain.

    The largest sports brand in China in terms of sales had lots of business with local football and basketball clubs, such as Zaragoza, Celta Vigo and Malaga. The bankruptcy would affect the clothing supply for players of these clubs, as their cooperation agreement with Li Ning was invalid.

    The Chinese sportswear giant began to design and produce professional clothes for Spanish clubs in 2004. In particular, the Spanish athletes wore Li Ning tracksuits when attending the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

    However, as the exacerbation of the Spanish economic crisis, Li Ning suffered serious fiscal deficit, which resulted in the bankruptcy.

    “The bankruptcy of the subsidiary would not influence the production and operations of Li Ning’s head office in China, which would continue to perform the contract,” said the Spanish basketball association.

    The company was reported having signed the contract to sponsor CBA for five competition seasons with 2 billion yuan, but net profit was only 386 million yuan. And the company’s CEO Zhang Zhiyong just stepped down July 4.

    (SD-Agencies)