Lotto Sport, the well-known Italian soccer and sportswear brand, has entered a 20 years partnership with Li Ning, the third biggest Chinese sport brand named after former Olympic hero of the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

The agreement seems likely to boost partners respective brand image: on the one hand Li Ning will produce and distribute Lotto branded products in China through their Chinese factories, which will help increase Lotto’s sport presence in Mainland China; on the other hand the partnership will supposedly enhance the potentials for Li Ning’s own growth and reach throughout the country.

Andrea Tomat, president and CEO for Lotto Sport Italia has reportedly declared that: “It’s a partnership from which we expect extraordinary drive for Lotto’s presence not only in China but right across Asia.”

Li Ning, on its side, is clearly trying to capitalize on key partnerships to create more visibility for its own brand. The agreement with Lotto, in fact, follows the initiative to co-brand the series of Shaquille O’Neal signature shoes in China, to sponsor the 2008 Olympic Men’s Basketball teams of Argentina and Spain and to open a United States-based design office in Portland, Oregon.

Is this a classic win-win situation? Even if apparently so, we still wonder how the partners will protect respective brand identities especially considering their very different brands’ heritages. The agreement will come into effect from September 2008. We are certainly curious to see how the brands will interact in mainland China.