Chinese sports equipment manufacturers are increasingly pivoting toward service-oriented business models, expanding from traditional production into diverse sectors including marathon event management, AI-powered fitness facilities, professional running club services, and comprehensive sports complexes.

The National Sports Administration's "14th Five-Year Plan for Sports Development" encourages sports equipment companies to develop household and intelligent sports equipment while accelerating the extension of manufacturing into service sectors. The 2025 Government Work Report emphasizes deepening the integration of advanced manufacturing and modern services, accelerating the development of service-oriented manufacturing.

Leveraging favorable policies, sports equipment manufacturers are breaking away from the traditional "production-heavy, service-light" approach, innovating business formats and application scenarios to achieve deep integration between manufacturing and services, constructing new industrial development patterns.

**Transformation: From Product Manufacturing to Consumer Experience Expansion**

As the sports industry continues developing, different types of sports enterprises are exploring transformation along various pathways. "Every company transformation is closely connected to era development and market demands," said Zheng Jianqiang, Chairman of Tianxiang Sports.

In 2001, responding to Fuzhou's urban development strategy, Tianxiang Sports invested in building a factory in Cangshan District, then an area with incomplete infrastructure, to manufacture for French sports brand Decathlon. 2015 marked a pivotal transformation period: the company relocated to a new facility while converting the original factory into a sports cultural and creative park, attracting multiple sports training and fitness institutions. Simultaneously, the company began operating several marathon events, enhancing brand recognition through these activities.

Zheng Jianqiang revealed that the company's 510 million yuan investment in the smart sports complex "Tianxiang Yue Dong City," which began construction in 2023, is expected to be completed by year-end. "Apart from commercial district facilities, most sports projects will be self-operated," Zheng explained. "This represents a new sports service model distinct from traditional commercial complexes, centered on citizen fitness and leisure, using sports projects to attract traffic while commercial facilities support sports activities, creating entirely new consumption scenarios and experiences."

The nationwide fitness boom has driven rapid growth in fitness demand, creating new market opportunities for enterprises. XTEP Int'l established a running club along Xiamen's famous coastal running route, the East Coast Romantic Line. The facility provides free services including storage, bathing, training, and pace challenge competitions, alongside paid services such as professional physical function assessments, making product sales an extension of services.

"The XTEP running club represents forward-positioned services, bringing us closer to consumers and strengthening their recognition and loyalty to the XTEP brand," said Qi Bing, Assistant President of XTEP Group. Qi noted that XTEP established its first running club in Beijing's Olympic Forest Park in 2016, breaking traditional specialty store models by locating facilities along popular running routes rather than commercial districts, centering on serving runners.

The club network has expanded to cities including Changsha, Hefei, and Nanjing. Currently, XTEP operates 77 running clubs nationwide, connecting over 2.3 million members through the "XTEP Tribe" platform and hosting more than 2,000 running events annually, creating gathering spaces for running enthusiasts.

Shuhua Sports, originally focused on manufacturing and selling fitness equipment, began developing its own branded fitness chain stores - Shuhua Fitness - in 2022. The company now operates over 60 locations across more than 20 cities through direct operation and franchising models, directly deploying proprietary fitness equipment while simultaneously providing fitness services, equipment sales, and corporate services.

Zhang Qiwei, Deputy General Manager of Shuhua Fitness, stated that developing service operations reduces dependence on single business lines, diversifies operational risks, and helps enhance brand influence. Shuhua Fitness continues iterating its business model, recently preparing to launch AI gyms that integrate artificial intelligence with fitness scenarios, achieving intelligent closed-loop systems from testing and assessment to guidance and feedback.

Zhang emphasized that "profit models relying solely on hardware sales face growth bottlenecks. Expanding into services represents our pursuit of new growth points and an inevitable choice based on future market trends."

**Objective: From "Dependence" to "Symbiosis"**

Zheng Zhiqiang, Vice President of the China Sports Industry Association and Professor at Jimei University, indicated that facing intensified domestic competition, increased external challenges, and saturated traditional markets, sports equipment manufacturers are accelerating their extension into service sectors. Service-oriented manufacturing can embed service elements throughout the industrial chain and expand profit margins, with its customization and knowledge-intensive characteristics helping enterprises escape homogeneous competition and achieve high-quality development.

However, current research reveals that sports equipment manufacturers commonly operate under dependence models such as "manufacturing supporting services" and "commerce supporting sports" during transformation, with mature symbiotic relationships between service and manufacturing industries yet to develop.

Zheng Jianqiang acknowledged that sports complexes without commercial district support would struggle to recover costs solely through sports education and venue operations. However, as nationwide fitness gradually becomes a consumption necessity, "sports + commerce" models show promise for establishing revenue pathways and achieving positive cycles.

Zhang Qiwei reported that Shuhua achieved total operating revenue of 1.417 billion yuan in 2024, with fitness service operations representing a relatively small proportion. Qi Bing noted that XTEP running clubs currently provide mostly free services without independent profit models, believing future development requires assembling professional teams, innovating consumption scenarios, and exploring new business models.

Sports enterprises currently face multiple bottlenecks in service transformation, including undervalued service industry contributions, enterprise emphasis on production over services, low consumer recognition, and weak talent support. Zheng Zhiqiang recommended that governments increase policy support through fiscal subsidies, tax incentives, and special funding to encourage enterprise collaboration with upstream and downstream partners, optimize business environments, and regulate market order. Simultaneously, accelerating "Internet+" and big data infrastructure development while improving comprehensive manufacturing service networks would provide technical and data support for enterprise transformation.

Enterprises themselves must focus on improving customer experience, service quality, and supply chain management capabilities.