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This summer's hot searches were dominated by a number of mineral water companies! After Nongfu Spring's "hard fight" with the Hong Kong Consumer Council, the resignation of Wahaha "Princess" Zong Fuli became the biggest melon today.

On July 18, a screenshot of the resignation of Zong Fuli, vice chairman of Wahaha Group, circulated on the Internet. The content showed that the main reason for Zong Fuli's resignation was that some shareholders questioned the rationality of her management, making it impossible for her to continue to perform her management responsibilities for Wahaha Group and its holding companies.

For a time, rumors were rife. Someone close to Wahaha revealed that several Wahaha executives had left the company some time ago, but refused to reveal more information. A former Wahaha executive also said that the rumors were true.

Currently, things are still developing...

This is a "Game of Thrones"

According to official website information, Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. was founded in 1987. Under the leadership of founder Zong Qinghou, it started from scratch with three people and a loan of 140,000 yuan. It has now developed into one of the world's leading food and beverage production companies. It is one of the top 500 Chinese enterprises, top 500 Chinese manufacturing enterprises, and top 500 Chinese private enterprises.

Its products cover more than 200 varieties in more than ten categories, including packaged drinking water, protein drinks, carbonated drinks, tea drinks, fruit and vegetable juice drinks, coffee drinks, plant-based drinks, special-purpose beverages, canned foods, dairy products, and medical and health foods. Among them, purified water, AD calcium milk, Nutri-Express, and Eight Treasure Porridge are well-known national products.

What many people don’t realize is that Wahaha Group is actually a state-owned enterprise. The equity structure shows that Hangzhou Shangcheng District Cultural, Commercial and Tourism Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., Zong Qinghou, and Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. Grassroots Trade Union Joint Committee (Employee Stock Ownership Association) hold 46%, 29.4%, and 24.6% of the shares respectively.

Behind the seemingly simple numbers, there is a complex game of power.

As early as April this year, negative news about Zong Fuli began to circulate on the Internet. A netizen who claimed to be a former employee of Wahaha Group published a long article accusing Zong Fuli by real name, claiming that she had embezzled a huge amount of state-owned assets of Wahaha Group.

"She inserted people from Hongsheng Group into Wahaha, squeezed out the old employees one by one, and made major adjustments to the factory directors and general managers of the management areas... She commissioned external processing factories in the name of Hongsheng Group to process Wahaha pure water under the brand name and then sold it to the Wahaha Group sales company. In fact, only the state-owned Wahaha Group has the right to commission external processing of Wahaha brand products... She used various means to transfer benefits to her Hongsheng Group, drained the profits of Wahaha Group, occupied huge amounts of funds, and wantonly embezzled state-owned assets."

In February this year, Zong Qinghou died of illness at the age of 79. A more credible rumor is that after her father's death, Zong Fuli accelerated the replacement plan.

It is reported that in terms of corporate management, Zong Fuli advocates systems, flat internal management, and is good at absorbing everyone's opinions. She also tried to bring these concepts into Wahaha. A series of adjustments and optimizations to management systems and organizational structures are bound to affect the interests of the class.

According to the letter circulated online, 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 the 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 shareholding companies. She decided to resign from the positions of vice chairman and general manager of Wahaha Group from July 15 and no longer participate in its management.

Zong Fuli said that she has delivered her resignation letter to Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. and all its shareholders, and also urged relevant parties to re-elect the general manager in a timely manner in accordance with the procedures stipulated in the articles of association and perform management responsibilities to ensure the normal operation of the group and safeguard the common interests of the enterprise, customers and all employees.

On July 18, the publicity department of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shangcheng District, Hangzhou City, told the media that they are currently investigating and verifying the relevant situation regarding Zong Fuli's resignation and the report letter. If there is any definite information, we will provide further feedback. Previously, there was a report letter circulating online claiming that "Zong Fuli, president of Hongsheng Group, embezzled a huge amount of state-owned assets of Wahaha Group."

It was also reported that the Zhejiang Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission's Petition Office had not responded yet. A person from the Hangzhou Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said that it was unclear whether they had received the complaint letter, and said: "Even if we did, it is not our responsibility. Wahaha should be under the jurisdiction of the Shangcheng District State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission."

Zong Fuli's "Princess Life"

Public information shows that Zong Fuli was born in January 1982 and graduated from Pepperdine University in the United States. In 2004, she returned to China after completing her studies and joined Wahaha.

She started out as a front-line beverage manufacturer, and her first job was in production management at the workshop of Wahaha's Xiaoshan Base No. 2. She gradually accumulated experience in corporate management, from the head of Wahaha's brand public relations department to deputy general manager, general manager, vice chairman, and now legal representative, executive director, and manager.

Under the halo of her father, Zong Fuli did a lot of exploration.

In 2007, Zong Fuli officially took charge of Hongsheng Beverage Group. Hongsheng started out as a beverage OEM. After taking over Hongsheng, Zong Fuli proposed the concept of "full industrial chain layout", integrated and transformed industrial resources, and made drastic investments in supporting industries.

In less than three years, Hongsheng has completed the layout of the entire industrial chain with beverage production as its main business, and has joined the camp with a revenue of tens of billions.

In 2018, Zong Fuli took over as the director of the brand public relations department of Wahaha Group. Not afraid of controversy, she decisively stopped renewing the endorsement contract with Wang Leehom, a star with whom she had worked for 20 years, and replaced him with a new spokesperson who had more traffic and was more popular among young people.

In December 2021, Zong Fuli officially took up the post of Vice Chairman and General Manager of Wahaha Group. On February 23, 2024, Zong Fuli succeeded Zong Qinghou as the legal representative, executive director and manager of Hangzhou Wahaha E-Commerce Co., Ltd.

As the successor of Wahaha, Zong Fuli has been repeatedly examined.

In the view of industry insiders, "Wahaha, once the channel king, is now at a disadvantage in the channel, and it will have to pay a huge price to compete for the market; second, Wahaha's advantage product is dairy beverages, and it still needs to polish the development of other categories; third, Wahaha's product research and development, brand building and marketing strategies are currently outdated, and it is difficult for its products to win over young consumers; fourth, Wahaha's current wave of sentimental traffic, whether active or passive, will inevitably be a hidden danger in the future."

Looking back to 2019, when asked, "What do you think is your responsibility to Wahaha?", Zong Fuli replied, "This is the empire created by my father. As his daughter, I should have the responsibility to protect it."

Obviously, Zong Fuli has been "tortured" to the point where she can no longer cope with it.

It is worth noting that in addition to working at the Hangzhou Wahaha Group, Zong Fuli also has a considerable business empire. Public information shows that Zong Fuli is the legal representative of Hangzhou Wahaha Hongzhen Investment Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Zhenzong Investment Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Qili Investment Co., Ltd. and other investment companies, and holds 100% of the shares of Hangzhou Wahaha Hongzhen Investment Co., Ltd.

According to statistics, Zong Fuli currently indirectly holds shares in more than 4,800 companies, including several Wahaha-related companies. However, she has not yet taken over the shares of Wahaha Group. The position of Wahaha chairman has been vacant since Zong Qinghou's death.