Special shoes released by footwear companies such as Nike are fueling a massive resale market. Data from fashion website Highsnobiety shows that the sport shoe resale market has reached an estimated six billion U.S. dollars in sales. That's created business opportunities for platforms including online marketplace Du APP and Get. 

Sneakers even have their own stock exchange called StockX, where they can watch shoe values rise and fall. Data from YiMagazine shows that sport shoes are at a big price premium. The prices generally depend on the rareness and cultural resonance of the shoes. 

So who are the sneakerheads?  

The term refers to someone who collects, trades or admires sneakers as a hobby. YiMagazine's data shows that over 83 percent of the buyers are young people under 25 years old. Nearly 40 percent of the females are attracted to the culture, but males are still the major buyers, accounting for 62 percent of all sneakerheads.  

Sun Yanfeng, founder of sneaker culture and review platform jikexietan.com, explained the mindset behind spending some serious cash in the re-sale market for sneakers. 

Michael Jordan Converse Fastbreak sneakers, for example, which can be traced back to the 1980s, are sold for over 190,000 U.S. dollars. 

"The shoe, the Fastbreak from Converse, it was a 1980 style product, but that was a major moment for Michael Jordan wearing the shoes and finished a really final shot. Then Michael Jordan went to NBA. So that's why Converse Fastbreak, the specific shoes are very expensive. That kind of a sneaker is emerged with his historic moment and the famous figure and a lot of memory, so that's why the price is so high for the most collectors and sneakerheads," Sun said. 

Sun also explained the value that collectors and sneaker enthusiasts see.  

"One of the major consumers is professional collector, they really love those game-used players' shoes or shoes with players' autograph. They have they air conditioning room and humidity control system to reserve all these kind of collectible shoes. Another category is resellers who come into the market and sell the shoes through internet sneaker-trading platforms. For the sneakerheads, these shoes have value and (are) collectible," Su told CGTN. 

And he sees more market giants into the market, publishing special editions with high prices but limited quantities. 

"The amount is certain, people keep on buying it, and the amount will become very little, then the price will go high. It is just like the demand and supply relation. More and more brands try to join the market tension by doing limited product release. This kind of product is only a fraction of the number. More and more people, through social network, know about the releases and they are all coming to buy the shoes. However, not every city has that kind of specific store releasing all this kind of limited edition of sneakers," Sun said. 

China is now the second-largest market for the company right after the U.S. Sun said it's important for foreign brands to know the differences of running a business in China and other markets.  

What Sun means is that there are a lot of hyped figures on some Chinese platforms, from the number of their followers to the amount of their sales. Still, the potential is clearly huge.  

Research company Statisia estimates the athletic footwear market in China will reach 9.5 billion U.S. dollars this year. But global shoes exchange platform GOAT seems to have its own estimates about the market, saying that China will overtake the U.S. in terms of sneaker sales by 2025.