Adidas surges in China, marks CEO Bjørn Gulden's bold comeback

Adidas, which is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and second only to Nike worldwide, continues to hold strong in terms of its global sales. The sportswear giant has shown a 9 percent jump in its China sales amounting to 946 million euros in Greater China, up from 870 million euros a year ago, the company reported on Tuesday. This was the strongest quarterly sales reported by the company since 2022.
Adidas, a multinational corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, designs and manufactures footwear, apparel, and accessories. Some of the major competitors of Adidas include Puma, Under Armour, and Nike.
According to a Reuters report, Adidas' performance in China is in sharp contrast with other companies that are awaiting government stimulus to boost consumer sentiment.
Apart from China, in North America, which is the biggest market behind Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, sales were down 7 percent at 1.36 billion euros in the July-September period but increased from the previous year.
"The strong underlying growth in Greater China and the earlier-than-expected turn to positive numbers for the Adidas brand in North America during the last two quarters strengthens our confidence for the mid-term future," Gulden said in a statement.
The results are the latest evidence of a revival in the company's fortunes almost two years after CEO Bjorn Gulden joined the German brand. Bjørn Gulden took over as CEO of Adidas in January 2023 at the cusp of Adidas’ termination of its 10-year partnership with Yeezy or Kanye West following which the company faced revenue downturns.
A Reuters report, quoting sources said that China is considering approving next week the issuance of over 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) in extra debt in the next few years to revive its fragile economy. 
The fiscal package is expected to be further bolstered if Donald Trump wins the November 5 presidential election. Recently, China’s Vice Minister of Finance, Liao Min was quoted saying that China is confident to achieve around 5-percent GDP growth target for 2024, and the country will step up counter-cyclical adjustments in fiscal policy in addition to monetary policy stimulus.
Who is Bjorn Gulden?
Bjorn Gulden is a Norwegian national born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1965. He previously worked at footwear retailer Deichmann Group and sportswear giant Puma.