(Yicai) July 16 -- The chief executive officer of Chinese sports brand Anta Sports Products' namesake brand Anta has resigned for family reasons.

Anta accepted Xu Yang's resignation and will appoint him to another position, the company told Yicai yesterday, adding that Lai Shixian, its executive director and co-CEO, will temporarily replace Xu as acting CEO of the Anta brand.

Xu joined Anta in 2006 after working for member companies of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. In 2019, Anta acquired Amer Sports and named Xu as general manager of Arc'Teryx China. During his tenure, the operational efficiency of Arc'Teryx Chinese stores greatly improved, gradually becoming one of the most important growth engines for Amer Sports' China business.

Xu took on the role of CEO of Anta Brand in January 2023, when he revealed that the brand's operational goal was to achieve a compound annual revenue growth rate of 10 percent to 15 percent between 2023 and 2026.

A person close to Anta told Yicai that Anta appointed Xu as the new CEO of the Anta brand because Arc'Teryx China revived under his leadership.

After Xu took office, he initiated a series of high-end transformations at Anta Brand, but they did not achieve the expected results. The brand's operating revenue and profit only rose 3.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, last year from the previous one, while the company's overall revenue surged 13 percent, and its net profit widened 15 percent in the period.

Xu's resignation is not the only management change at sports brands in China. As the financial performance of sports enterprises in China is not as good as in the past, personnel adjustments to seek business breakthroughs are becoming the top choice for many companies, insiders told Yicai.

361 Degrees International appointed Men Lijun, former vice president for sales at Nike China, as its new executive president in June. Amer Sports, a Canadian outdoor apparel firm acquired by a consortium led by Anta in 2019, named Du Wenjun, former VP for product at Nike China, as GM of Salomon China.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione