Belle International

Belle International the largest woman's shoe retailer in the People's Republic of China, with 22% domestic market share. It is engaged in the manufacturing, distribution and retail sales of footwear products. It offers a number of brand names on its footwear business, including Belle, Staccato, Teenmix, Tata, Fato, JipiJapa, Joy & Peace and Bata. As of its IPO in May 2007, the company had a retail network comprising thousand of retail outlets in several cities in China, Hong Kong, Macau and the US. In September 2008, Belle was named No. 8 in the BusinessWeek Asia 50, Businessweek's annual ranking of top Asian companies. Belle's founder and chairman, Deng Yao, started Lai Wah Footwear Trading Ltd. in 1981 in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. He started Belle International in 1991 as a shoe wholesale manufacturer, and the company only expanded into retail in 2004. In 2006, Belle International won the contract to be the biggest distributor of Nike and Adidas in China. Belle International also operates other sports and leisure wear brands including Li Ning, Reebok, and Kappa (company).