When the 2012 Summer Olympic Games open on July 27 in London, Bosideng, China´s largest down apparel company, will open its first European store near Oxford Street, the city´s busiest shopping street, presenting a brand widely known in China to Londoners and visitors from across the world.

To house the store, the company spent 20.05 million pounds purchasing an entire building on nearby South Molton Street, making it the company´s most expensive outlet.

The store is part of the company´s long-term strategy to move upward in the value chain, morphing from a producer of inexpensive "Made in China" goods to a global clothing brand that sells "Created in China" goods with higher added value.

Founded in the east coastal province of Jiangsu in the late 1970s, Bosideng is the largest down apparel company in China. It has 7,579 retail outlets selling down apparel under six core brands which achieved a combined market share of 36.6 percent in 2010.

Source: China Textile Leader