(Yicai) Jan. 22 -- Yao Weixiong, president of Fila's China arm, will step down in the near future as he has reached retirement age, according to Chinese sportswear giant Anta Sports Products, owner of the rights to sell the Italian brand in the country.

Yao, who will also step down as chief executive of Anta's fashion sports brand, will be succeeded by Jiang Yan, president of Fila Fusion, the Fujian province-based company announced recently. However, he will continue to serve as vice president of Anta, overseeing the daily management and operations of fashion projects, it added.

Jiang joined Anta in 2016 but briefly left the company to head the apparel marketing center of Alibaba Group Holding's e-commerce platform Tmall. She returned to Anta in May 2022 as president of the then-new trendy sports brand Fila Fusion.

Since 2010, Yao has been in charge of Fila's business in China. Under his leadership, the firm's performance grew rapidly and turned into a key earnings driver for Anta, helping it surpass its main domestic rival, Li Ning.

Anta bought Fila's trademark and exclusive operating rights in the Chinese market in 2009 when the brand's revenue was less than CNY100 million (USD13.7 million). By 2021, Fila's annual income exceeded CNY20 billion (USD2.7 billion), accounting for nearly half of Anta's total revenue.

However, Fila saw its annual revenue drop for the first time in 2022, with the number of stores falling to 1,984 from 2,054 from the year before. Although its income increased over the next two years, the growth rate slowed.

In its interim financial performance briefing last year, Anta lowered its revenue growth forecast for Fila to single digits from 10 percent to 15 percent.

At the beginning of 2023, Anta reorganized its corporate structure, making significant personnel changes in several key positions. Industry experts view the move as the firm's response to performance pressures and an effort to better compete in the sports consumer market.

Fila has an annual revenue target of CNY40 billion to CNY50 billion, according to Anta's 2024-2026 development plan released at its Global Investor Conference in October 2023. The plan aims to help Anta take the largest market share in China this year and establish global market leadership by 2030.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev