Source | Consumer Titanium Jia Baixue

A notice from China Resources Beverage announced a major leadership adjustment: original board chairman Zhang Weitong resigned, and was succeeded by Gao Li, a veteran with deep financial expertise and nearly a decade of experience at the company. This leadership change is the culmination of a series of systematic board restructurings since the second half of 2025, aimed at paving the way for China Resources Beverage's strategic transformation.

In fact, facing profound changes in China's beverage market, China Resources Beverage is accelerating its transformation from a single packaged water leader to a 'water + beverage' dual-driven integrated group.

In the first half of 2025, despite overall revenue pressure, China Resources Beverage's beverage business grew against the trend by 21.3%, with its revenue share continuously increasing, showing initial results of the strategic adjustment. With the new management in place, China Resources Beverage is fully deploying across multiple fronts including product innovation, sports marketing, and channel optimization, and a deep transformation aimed at reshaping competitiveness has begun.

Personnel Changes

Zhang Weitong resigned from core positions including executive director, board chairman, and chairman of the nomination committee due to work needs. This professional manager, who had worked deeply within the China Resources system for many years, ended his leadership career at China Resources Beverage. His successor is Gao Li, who also has a deep China Resources background.

The announcement shows that Zhang Weitong resigned from a series of core positions, and Gao Li took over as executive director, board chairman, and chairman of the nomination committee. Meanwhile, executive director and president Li Shuqing was appointed as the authorized representative, responsible for receiving legal process documents and notices.

Gao Li's career trajectory illustrates a typical path for China Resources executives. The 52-year-old manager joined the China Resources system in August 2007, initially working at China Resources Enterprise, Limited. During the key eight years from 2012 to 2020, he served as CFO of China Resources Beverage, deeply involved in the strategic transformation from regional to national, and from single product to multi-product.

During this period, Gao Li led the full-chain cost management reform at China Resources Beverage, promoted the establishment of a lean sales expense control system, and led the 'from 0 to 1' construction of business systems covering core links of the entire value chain, including the full promotion and deep application of the terminal management system SUP and the distributor collaboration platform DMS.

From March 2020 to January 2025, Gao Li successively served as deputy general manager of the Finance Department of China Resources Group and CFO of China Resources Power. During his tenure as CFO of China Resources Power, he led multiple capital operation projects for this energy giant with a market value of over HKD 100 billion. Notably, Gao Li worked at the National Audit Office for many years, which laid a solid foundation for his later financial management career.

The personnel adjustments at China Resources Beverage did not start in 2026; in fact, since the second half of 2025, the company has been making a series of board-level adjustments, constituting a systematic, phased leadership team restructuring process.

On August 29, 2025, executive director Wu Xia resigned from her positions as executive director and member of the Strategy and Investment Committee due to other work arrangements, but she retained her important role as CFO. Zhou Jianbo succeeded Wu Xia, being appointed as executive director and member of the Strategy and Investment Committee, injecting new decision-making perspectives into the board.

Three months later, on December 8, 2025, the second round of adjustments followed. Cao Yue resigned from positions including non-executive director, chairman of the Strategy and Investment Committee, member of the Audit Committee, and member of the Remuneration and Assessment Committee. Wang Degang, who succeeded Cao Yue, brought over 34 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, having previously served as general manager of the beverage marketing center at Jinmailang Food Co., Ltd. and held multiple senior positions at Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp.

Strategic Transformation

Behind the personnel adjustments lies the deep strategic transformation needs of China Resources Beverage. The company, known for its 'C'estbon' purified water, is facing structural changes in China's soft drink market: the packaged water market is slowing, while diversified beverage categories are becoming new growth points.

Financial data from the first half of 2025 clearly reflects the pain and hope of this transition period. China Resources Beverage's revenue was RMB 6.205 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 18.5%; net profit was RMB 823 million, a year-on-year decrease of 28.7%. But behind this overall decline, there are positive signals of strategic shift.

China Resources Beverage explained that in the first half of 2025, it 'strategically increased marketing resource investment, adjusted product mix, and gradually promoted channel adjustments.' These 'front-loaded investments' for medium- and long-term development had a phased impact on short-term profit performance.

The results of the transformation are gradually emerging. The beverage product revenue of China Resources Beverage continues to grow, with its proportion of total revenue increasing year by year. From 2021 to 2024, the proportion of beverage product revenue to total revenue was 4.6%, 5.7%, 7.9%, and 10.3%, respectively, showing a steady upward trend. In the first half of 2025, beverage business revenue reached RMB 955 million, a year-on-year increase of 21.3%, accounting for 15.4% of total revenue.

The packaged water business remains the cornerstone of China Resources Beverage, achieving revenue of RMB 5.251 billion in the first half of 2025, accounting for 84.6% of total revenue. The company achieves differentiated breakthroughs through innovative packaging and enriched scenario experiences, launching products such as 210ml pocket packs, sports caps, and Benyou 5L tea companion, focusing on incremental channels such as catering and home.

To support business transformation, China Resources Beverage is actively advancing capacity layout, planning to increase its own capacity ratio from 35% in 2023 to 54% in 2024, and aiming to reach 60% in 2025.

In the first half of 2025, the Wuyishan large-pack water production line in the packaged water field was successfully put into operation in the first quarter; in the second half of the year, two new factories are planned, with the Zhejiang factory expected to land in the fourth quarter, and another cooperative factory planned to start production in the third quarter.

Multi-Dimensional Layout

With the strategic adjustment, China Resources Beverage's market-level layout has also undergone significant changes, building comprehensive market competitiveness through product innovation, sports marketing, and channel optimization.

Product innovation has become a key focus for China Resources Beverage in 2025. In the first half of the year, it launched 14 new SKUs covering four major categories including ready-to-drink tea, functional beverages, and juices, with the highest density and intensity of innovation in history. This intensive new product launch strategy reflects the company's determination to accelerate the transformation to a 'water + beverage' dual-driven model.

The sports drink brand 'Moli' completed a comprehensive brand upgrade, positioning itself as a 'professional sports drink,' using a compound formula of 'electrolytes + amino acids + glucose + vitamins' to meet multiple replenishment needs in sports scenarios. The product design is also ingenious, with a precise small spout that avoids choking from large gulps and prevents liquid spillage.

'Zhiben Qingrun' deepened its 'Chinese classic' brand image, exploring the possibility of cultural premium through cultural IP collaborations such as co-branding with 'Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting' and sponsoring 'Round Table Talk.' The Zhiben Qingrun herbal plant beverage series achieved a significant sales increase of 122% in 2024 through expanding sales scope and launching new flavors.

Sports marketing has become the core strategy for brand building at China Resources Beverage. The company actively promotes the association of C'estbon with major events and establishes long-term deep cooperation with mass sports projects such as the Chinese national team/TEAM CHINA. In February 2025, China Resources Beverage signed to become the title sponsor of the Chinese Football League, greatly enhancing brand exposure.

The Moli brand also became the official sports drink of the Chinese national team, providing professional replenishment for national team athletes. Meanwhile, tennis rising star Wang Xinyu, as the chief sports officer, formed a 'symbolic cooperation' with Moli, building the unique athlete IP symbol of 'Moli Girl' through her 'Moli' jersey and outstanding on-court performance.

In terms of channel layout, China Resources Beverage is undergoing systematic optimization. Channel resource allocation is tilted toward terminal execution, actively reducing channel levels and promoting the transformation of the service provider model. At the same time, the company is actively expanding emerging channels such as home and online, building a diversified channel network.

China Resources Beverage's channel customer types are rich and diverse, including traditional channels, KA, special channels, education channels, leisure and entertainment channels, e-commerce channels, and catering channels, forming a three-dimensional sales network.

Some industry insiders believe that China Resources Beverage is undergoing a comprehensive transformation from leadership to strategic direction, and then to market layout.

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