In view of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in  China since January 2020, the 361 Group "has adopted various prevention and control measures in accordance with the relevant national and local regulations on epidemic prevention and control to comply with the national epidemic prevention policies".

By the 23rd of January an emergency management commanding team was established by 361, which was led by executive directors and senior management to arrange epidemic prevention and control-related matters and coordinate the implementation of effective measures by various departments with an aim to minimize the impact of the epidemic on the group.

Flexible working arrangements for employees allowing remote work was one of the measures put in place. It has been confirmed that the group’s in-house factories and offices have resumed operations since the 10^th of February.

In terms of retail operations, the Group mobilised all resources to help its franchise partners enhance operational efficiency and reduce losses, and to mitigate the epidemic’s negative impact on the retail sales, the group proactively shifted sales to e-commerce platform and took a prompt action to launch “all-staff marketing” plan. By increasing WeChat mini-programme channel to enhance online marketing, the group "strived to minimise the negative impact of the epidemic on its retail operation".

The expectation of 361 is that all retail stores in China (except for those located in Hubei province) will gradually resume normal operations by the end of February 2020. 

In the light of the current situation, 361’s financial performance, as well as the sports industry will inevitably be affected by the epidemic in the first half of 2020, although they are confident that the epidemic will be under control soonest. The group also believes that the health awareness of Chinese people will be further raised after the novel coronavirus outbreak, ushering in new development opportunity for the sports industry in China.