Photo of Cai Jiangfei and Zhang Sen, ANTA Sports Products Ltd.
Zhang Sen
Treasury Head
ANTA Sports Products Ltd. is a Chinese sportswear multinational corporation, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Jinjiang, China, that designs, develops, manufactures and markets sporting goods including footwear, apparel and accessories under a diverse portfolio of brands.
The challenge
ANTA has embarked on a path of global expansion in recent years with a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model. This strategy includes a diverse portfolio of brands aimed at developing a strong overseas customer base. As of June 2025, ANTA has established over 200 retail stores overseas, primarily located in South-East Asia (eg Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore). ANTA is making sports accessible, breaking down barriers from local communities to the global stage.
However, this rapid expansion has presented significant challenges for ANTA’s treasury team. With over 300 accounts overseas, managing multibank cash positions has become increasingly complex. ANTA has faced difficulties in performing essential tasks such as reconciling transactions and ensuring accurate cash flow forecasting. These challenges have resulted in substantial management expenses, heavy workloads and a higher incidence of human errors. Additionally, managing funds from various brands has posed significant challenges for ANTA.
The solution
To address these issues, building a global fund management platform has become critical for ANTA to keep pace with the dynamic market environment. The platform enables end-to-end process management of fund operations and addresses centralised settlement through direct connectivity with banks, such as via bank-enterprise integration.
This system enables ANTA to centrally manage capital movement and optimise liquidity structures. The partnership enhances visibility and control over cross-border treasury governance, simplifies cash pooling, maximises profits, reduces operating costs and improves balance sheet management.
Furthermore, ANTA can replace redundant bank accounts for overseas entities with a streamlined representative structure.
In summary, ANTA’s strategic initiatives and collaboration with banks have not only addressed the challenges posed by global expansion but have also positioned the company for sustainable growth in the international market.
“The Adam Smith Awards inspire us to experiment more boldly with innovative fund management models, thereby empowering the expansion of our global operations.”
Wenting Xu, ANTA Sports Products Ltd.
Best practice and innovation
To support the rapid growth of its South-East Asian business, ANTA Group has established a rapid response channel between the enterprise and banks through bank‑enterprise interconnection. This enables visibility and control over funds across South-East Asian countries, ensures data timeliness, provides real-time insights and improves the fund turnover ratio. Concurrently, by establishing a South-East Asian regional fund pool, the Group achieves rapid fund concentration and enhances fund management efficiency. Every dollar generated from sales is swiftly repatriated to the headquarters’ accounts, enabling efficient fund allocation and maximising capital value.
ANTA has demonstrated best practices and innovation through the centralised management of overseas funds via a tailored solution from banks. By adopting an all-in-one system, ANTA has significantly enhanced cash visibility, control and accessibility.
The system integrates global accounts, providing real-time insights into fund status across all accounts. This supports a multi-tier fund pool structure that differentiates ANTA’s various brands, achieving 100% fund visibility. The solution allows operations on overseas accounts while maintaining specific operational permissions for overseas account operators. This approach reduces operational risks, improving settlement efficiency, effectively supporting its DTC strategy.
By implementing this system, ANTA has effectively managed cash balances from various locations, enhancing liquidity management, reducing idle funds and improving cash forecasting capabilities, while also streamlining accounts and management costs.
Key benefits
Cost savings.
Headcount savings.
Process efficiencies.
Return on investment.
Increased automation.
Risk mitigated.
Improved visibility.
Errors reduced.
Number of banking partners/bank accounts reduced.
Manual intervention reduced.
Increased system connectivity.
Future-proof solution.
Quality accreditation achieved.
Improved key performance indicator (KPI) metrics.
This project represents a groundbreaking and innovative solution that supports the overseas development of sports brands through a DTC model. It addresses the challenges faced by sportswear companies in managing overseas funds across remote and globally dispersed accounts. The customised multi-tier fund pool structure allows for seamless, one-click collection of funds across multiple brands, significantly enhancing internal fund utilisation. With real-time analysis of global fund positions, ANTA has improved the timeliness of management decisions and optimised financial resource allocation.
The Adam Smith Awards Asia are the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards-asia
