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Zong Fuli attended the meeting. Visual China data map

Regarding the online rumor that Hangzhou Wahaha Group Vice Chairman and General Manager Zong Fuli has offered to resign, an insider close to Wahaha Group told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) on July 18 that the situation is true, but the incident happened suddenly and the company's senior executives were not previously aware of it. The company's shareholders and management are currently in further consultations to handle the matter.

The resignation letter circulated online shows that Zong Fuli said that recently the Shangcheng District Government and some shareholders of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. ("Wahaha Group") have questioned the rationality of her management of Wahaha Group since the death of Chairman Zong Qinghou, making it impossible for her to continue to perform her management responsibilities for the group and its holding companies. She decided to resign from the position of Vice Chairman and General Manager of Wahaha Group from July 15 and no longer participate in management. She said that she had sent her resignation letter to Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. and all its shareholders, and also urged the relevant parties to re-elect the general manager in a timely manner according to the procedures stipulated in the articles of association and perform management duties to ensure the normal operation of the group and safeguard the common interests of the enterprise, customers and all employees.

"It happened suddenly, but it wasn't too unexpected." Yang Yiqing, executive president of the Zhejiang Merchants Research Association and director of the Zhejiang Merchants Museum, said in an interview with The Paper that during Zong Qinghou's time, Wahaha's corporate management model was very unique, which can be summarized as "four no's" - no loans, no listing, no vice presidents (the position of deputy general manager was not established until the 29th year), and no real estate. After Zong Qinghou passed away in February this year and Zong Fuli took over the company, it was impossible to copy her father's management model, so she faced many challenges. The most important of these was how to deal with the problems of coordination with the state-owned major shareholder, the existing management model and the management during the company's transformation, and explore the establishment of a new institutional framework that conforms to the concepts and interests of all parties. This is by no means an easy task. "If the resignation is finally effective, it will be a big test for Wahaha's sustainable development."

Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. was founded in 1987. It started with three people and a loan of 140,000 yuan. It has developed into one of the world's leading food and beverage manufacturers. It is one of the top 500 Chinese enterprises and the top 500 Chinese private enterprises. The equity structure chart of "Qichacha" shows that the company's largest shareholder is Hangzhou Shangcheng District Cultural, Commercial and Tourism Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., which holds 46% of the shares, Zong Qinghou holds 29.4% of the shares, and the grassroots trade union joint committee of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. (employee shareholding association) holds 24.6% of the shares. Hangzhou Shangcheng District Cultural, Commercial and Tourism Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shangcheng District State-owned Capital Operation Group Co., Ltd., which is 100% controlled by the District Finance Bureau.

On February 25 this year, Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Wahaha Group, passed away at the age of 79. Zong Fuli is the daughter of Zong Qinghou. She was born in 1982 and went abroad to study at the age of 14. She returned to China in 2004 and started as a production manager in the Wahaha workshop. She is now the vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group. The position of chairman of Wahaha has been vacant since Zong Qinghou's death.