Chinese sportswear company Li Ning has reported a narrower loss in 2013 attributing it to the positive impact of its ‘Channel Revival Plan’.

Li Ning posted a net loss of 392 million yuan ($63.03 million), far lower than the 1.98 billion yuan ($318.4 million) net loss of 2012.

Revenue declined 13 per cent to 5.8 billion yuan ($932.7 million), partly due to a near-term focus on sell-in reductions, inventory clearance and optimisation of store network.

“In the past year we were head on continuing to fix the business and at the same time starting to build our new business. The first phase of the Transformation Plan, the Channel Revival Plan, is nearly complete with encouraging core trends,” said EVC and interim CEO Jin-Goon Kim.

Li Ning expects market uncertainties to continue challenge the company’s progression, however it is optimistic its current transformation direction will help it become the leading sportswear company in China.

“We’ve already started re-expanding again, investing boldly but smartly according to our Transformation Plan, and we firmly believe these efforts will capture the significant growth potential for Li Ning Company,” said Kim.

The company had 5915 retail stores in China as of December, 519 fewer than the previous year.