• LeBron has made five visits with Nike to China since 2005; his signature line of footwear has included four special China-exclusive colorways
• Kobe has made four visits with Nike to China since 2006; his signature shoe debuted with a China edition for the first time with the Zoom Kobe IV
• Through the Kobe Mentu campaign (‘Kobe Disciples’) in 2008, 30 Chinese players were selected out of hundreds of applicants in Shenyang, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The finalists were flown to Beijing to participate in tryouts and players were narrowed down to 24 Kobe Mentu disciples, who were flown to Los Angeles to train with leading US basketball coaches and Kobe himself. LeBron and Kobe share their inspirations, skills, technical drills and drive during the youth clinics during their ongoing trips to China.
• The 2008 Beijing Olympics connected the gold medal winning USA Basketball team stars with the country.
• As part of our goal to reach consumers with interactive experiences, Nike has recently executed notable initiatives around football and running as well. This year, we completed a Manchester United China tour in Hangzhou where more than 1,500 fans from throughout China came to Hangzou to meet the team. Furthermore, the Nike Human Race, a worldwide initiative that includes races in 25 cities, took place in Ghangzhou and was well received by the country’s running community. In 2009, nearly 40,000 runners participated in the Nike Human Race Challenges in Shanghai, Wuhan and Xi’an.

Nike sought to change China's culture to include sports where education levels and test scores dictated success. So Nike's Chinese-speaking (then director of sports marketing) Terry Rhoads saw basketball as Nike's ticket and proceeded to donated equipment to Shanghai's high schools, open their basketball courts to the public after hours, organized three-on-three tournaments, founded the Nike League (a high school basketball league) and televised the finals nationally. As a result, sales picked up 60% per year before they started working with the NBA that brought in stars such as Michael Jordan. The Chinese came to call sneakers "Nai-ke."

Nike gambled that the new middle class, now some 40 million people who make an average of $8,500 a year for a family of three, was developing a whole new set of values, centered on individualism. Nike then aired TV spots contrasting Chinese-style team-oriented play with a more individualistic American style, complete with a theme song blending traditional Chinese music and hip-hop. Starting in 2001, Nike coined a new phrase for its China marketing, borrowing from American black street culture: "Hip Hoop." Nike sought to connect Nike with a creative lifestyle though hip-hop messages that connects the softened disparate elements of black cool culture and associates it with Nike. The Nike phenomenon has parents and grandparents eating and clothing themselves like children. Click HERE for more info.