Nike says to build logistics centre in China

BEIJING, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Nike Inc (NKE.N) will build a logistics centre in eastern China, the facility will become Nike's largest such centre in Asia when it is completed at the end of 2010, the company said in a statement seen on Wednesday.

Construction on the centre will begin in the first quarter of 2009 and will help direct the flow of Nike shoes and apparel in China, Nike's second-largest market after the United States and one of its fastest growing.

Nike, the world's largest athletic shoe and clothing maker, did not put a value on the centre, its third in Asia, but China Business News said the investment would be $99 million.

Investment in the centre could be expanded to include other brands in the Nike stable, it said, without elaborating.

The expansion comes as Nike has recently announced a new focus on cost-cutting to cope with the global recession, announcing up to 1,400 layoffs, or 4 percent of its workforce.

($=6.84 yuan) (Reporting by Kirby Chien; Editing by Ken Wills)