In the course of screening anti-adipogenic activity of natural products employing the preadipocyte cell line, 3T3-L1 as an in vitro assay system, the EtOAc fraction of the stem barks of Acer tegmentosum Maxim (Aceraceae) showed significant inhibitory activity on adipocyte differentiation as assessed by measuring fat accumulation using Oil Red O staining. Activity-guided fractionation led to the isolation of active constituent, (+)-catechin. (+)-Catechin showed inhibitory activity on adipocyte differentiation in dose-dependent manner. Further studies with interval treatment demonstrated that (+)-catechin exerted inhibitory activity on adipocyte differentiation via acting on early stage of adipogenesis. Our present study also showed that (+)-catechin significantly inhibited the preadipocyte proliferation. Taken together, these results suggest that (+)-catechin, a constituent of A. tegmentosum might contribute the anti-adipogenic activity of A. tegmentosum.