Adidas closes China factory

German sportswear giant Adidas said Wednesday it was closing its only company-owned factory in China, although the country would continue to be its "main global production site" via subcontractors. A spokeswoman confirmed that the site in Suzhou, near Shanghai, which employs 160 people, would close at the end of October for "efficiency" reasons. She said this was part of a broader strategy on the part of the firm to subcontract production, with the company now owning "only a handful" of plants itself worldwide. The firm has 300 factories belonging to subcontractors in China, where sales rose by 23 percent last year to 1.229 billion euros ($1.509 billion), she said. Adidas stock was down more than one percent on the Frankfurt stock market, but this was more to do with a profit warning from competitor Puma.