Japanese watch conglomerate Citizen have signed Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu as their spokesperson for the brand in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The popularity of figure skating in China has been increasing, thanks to the upcoming 2022 Winter Games. Beijing was awarded the Games on the back of a bid campaign which promised to use the opportunity to significantly grow winter sports in the country, with a target of encouraging 300 million Chinese to take up some form of winter sport.
Yuzuru Hanyu is popular amongst winter sport enthusiasts, being a two-time Olympic champion, a two-time world champion, a four-time Grand Prix final champion, and regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters in history, breaking world records for various figure skating accomplishments eighteen times.
Citizen is the longest-running sponsor for the global governing body, the International Skating Union, for 37 consecutive years, beginning in 1982.