Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nike, the best-selling sportswear brand in China’s saw sales grow 30 percent for the three months ending August from the previous year. Similarly, Anta Sports Products, the largest local player, clocked a 24 percent y-o-y rise in sales during the first half of the year, while its smaller peer, Xtep International garnered 12 percent.

Now, more Chinese consumers are paying attention to health and sports. According to CLSA, between 2011 and 2014, the number of marathons and marathon participants has more than doubled. Morgan Stanley reports that there were more viewers a game for basketball as the Chinese Basketball Association’s finals saw 50 percent rise this year than the last. Besides, China even won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Around the time China hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, sportswear sales were booming. However, this quickly turned into a bust for sportswear makers because they over-invested, thus they in 20132 and 2013 they closed stores. According to HSBC, the store count today is 18 percent below its 2011 peak for six Hong Kong-listed sportswear firms. Even the small, unlisted players shut shop.

However, a combination of fresh demand and disciplined supply has again led to a rise in sales and profit. Xtep, for example is upgrading to higher-margin footwear in which consumers can actually run marathons, compared to shoes earlier, which only looked sporty. As per Morgan Stanley, since petrochemicals make up roughly a quarter of raw-material costs, low oil prices too help. Consumers in China now are showing an interest in sports by not just watching them, but playing them too, which is a great opportunity for investors.