Anta Sports: Strongly Denies That The 25 Distributors Are Independent Third Parties.

Anta sports denied muddy water charges and resumed today. Anta said: firmly deny the accusation and consider it inaccurate and misleading. In this regard, the board of directors would like to elaborate on the following matters concerning Anta brand business of the group:

The independence of our group distributors

1. on the date of this announcement, it was confirmed by the board of directors that all 25 distributors of the group mentioned in the muddy water report are independent of the company or any of its stakeholders (with the Listing Rules) and are not related to the other third parties.

2. the distributors of the group have their own management teams, make independent business decisions, and have financial and human resource management functions independent of the group, and there is no mutual control relationship.

3. the group has standardized its relationship with distributors through distribution agreements and related guidelines (the terms are roughly the same for all distributors), and there has been no significant change in recent years. The group adopts a unified wholesale discount policy for all distributors in China and provides rebates according to the industry's customary retail management performance assessment. There is no management fee sharing between the group and its distributors.

4. since most of the group's distributors are the only distributors who sell the products of the group in the region and sell the products of the group within the designated areas specified in their respective distribution agreements, the group will provide more guidance and regular communication with them in terms of sales and marketing strategies, market management and performance appraisal systems, so as to ensure that the products of the group in the region are successful. Despite these guidelines and discussions, distributors are responsible for making final business decisions and self financing.

Other clarifications concerning the distributors of the group

5. as the group distributors only sell the products of the group, the group advocates and distributors wholeheartedly accept and share the group's core values and corporate culture, and regard them as a part of the Anta brand. The group was informed that sometimes some distributors would call themselves "subsidiaries" or "subsidiaries" of the group in order to facilitate their business, rather than by definition of law. The claim is not intended to establish or determine a legal relationship, but rather to show that they are part of the Anta brand. The group also regularly organizes corporate culture and strategy seminars for distributors and senior management of the group to ensure that our group's strategy is consistent and effective communication from the brand level to the retail terminals managed by distributors and franchisees.

6. to support distributors, the group allows the sub distributors to use the brand name "Anta", Anta brand logo and other administrative tools (such as e-mail domain name and communication address).

7. in view of the close working relationship between the group and its distributors, there are individual employees who leave the group and join distributors or vice versa. These are the individual career plans and decisions of the relevant employees, and are not uncommon in the industry.

Most importantly, the shareholders of the company should be aware that the allegations reflect the views of the short selling agency, and the interests of the short selling organization may not be consistent with the interests of the shareholders of the company in general, and the allegations may be aimed at deliberately combating confidence in the company and its management and damaging the reputation of the company. Therefore, the company strongly denies the allegations and urges our shareholders and potential investors to treat muddy water reports and allegations with caution. The company reserves the right to take all appropriate actions, including legal proceedings, to protect its legitimate rights and interests from any unjustification allegations against the group.

At the request of the company, the shares of the company have been temporarily suspended from 1 pm on July 8, 2019, pending the issuance of this announcement. The company has applied to the The Stock Exchange of HongKong Limited for resumption of the company's stock trading since nine a.m. on July 9, 2019.