---
title: "From Bricklayer to Industry Leader: 20+ Years of Entrepreneurship, Product Becomes 'State Banquet' Water"
description: "Zhong Shanshan, founder of Nongfu Spring, rose from humble beginnings as a bricklayer to become a leading figure in China's bottled water industry. His brand, known for the slogan 'Nongfu Spring is a little sweet,' gained national prominence and was served at the G20 Hangzhou Summit, showcasing Chinese manufacturing."
author: "龙台"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2016-11-02"
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# From Bricklayer to Industry Leader: 20+ Years of Entrepreneurship, Product Becomes 'State Banquet' Water

> Zhong Shanshan, founder of Nongfu Spring, rose from humble beginnings as a bricklayer to become a leading figure in China's bottled water industry. His brand, known for the slogan 'Nongfu Spring is a little sweet,' gained national prominence and was served at the G20 Hangzhou Summit, showcasing Chinese manufacturing.

**Source: Xiou (ID: ceobus)**
> At the recently concluded G20 Hangzhou Summit, a glass-bottled mineral water frequently appeared on screen. This elegantly aristocratic-looking high-end water was produced by Hangzhou-based Nongfu Spring. During the summit, this glass-bottled water, embodying Chinese manufacturing, was used as conference water and received high praise from Chinese and foreign guests.
Zhong Shanshan—most people are probably unfamiliar with him, and may not even know how to pronounce his name. But mention Nongfu Spring, and many will blurt out the slogan, "Nongfu Spring is a little sweet." This now household-name mineral water brand was built by him.
Some may not recognize the character "睒" (shǎn) in his name, but everyone has heard of his brands. Over more than 20 years of entrepreneurship, he has launched a series of well-known products, including Guibie Wan (Turtle Extract Pills), Duo'er, Nongfu Spring, Qingzui (Mint Candy), Jianjiao (Scream), Chengzhang Kuaile (Growth Joy), Dongfang Shuye (Oriental Leaf), and Cha Pai (Tea π). In every era, he has had household-name, deeply rooted brands.
Mention Nongfu Spring, and you'll blurt out "A little sweet," and perhaps add, "We don't produce water; we're just nature's porters." Other well-known slogans from the group include: "Nongfu Orchard, shake before drinking" and "Want to know the taste of Qingzui?"
All these slogans were written by Zhong Shanshan himself.
> **From Rags to Riches**
Zhong Shanshan is from Zhuji, Zhejiang. When the Cultural Revolution broke out, his parents were labeled as rightists. Affected by his parents, Zhong, then in fifth grade, was forced to drop out of school and later went to Jiaxing to learn bricklaying.
After the college entrance examination was restored in 1977, Zhong took it twice and later attended an open university. After his parents' political rehabilitation, Zhong moved to the provincial capital and became a journalist for Zhejiang Daily. His five-year journalism career broadened his horizons and introduced him to future business partners. However, his adventurous and thrill-seeking nature led him to resign and head south to seek fortune.
After arriving in Hainan, Zhong made several entrepreneurial attempts, all ending in failure. It wasn't until 1991, when he became the general agent for Wahaha in Guangxi and Hainan, that he gained a foothold.
In Hainan, Zhong noticed the local popularity of a health soup made from turtle and soft-shelled turtle. Its delicious taste and nourishing properties made it highly popular. In October 1993, seeing the business opportunity, Zhong founded Hainan Yangshengtang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Hainan Yangshengtang), headquartered in Haikou, and developed "Yangshengtang Turtle Extract Pills." The product was well-received in the market. Hainan Yangshengtang thus became a significant player among health product brands in the 1990s, and Zhong earned his first pot of gold.
> **The Best Marketing is Event Marketing**
Since the founding of Nongfu Spring, Zhong's business philosophy has been: "The best marketing is event marketing—create events, seize events, and you'll seize everything."
In April 2000, Nongfu Spring built Asia's largest single water plant in Chun'an, Zhejiang. However, at that time, the Chinese bottled water market was dominated by purified water. Robust's "27-layer purification" safety concept was deeply ingrained in consumers' minds. Wahaha's purified water alone held over 50% of the market share. Nongfu Spring, in its early stages, found it difficult to find a breakthrough in market competition. This naturally became Zhong's challenge.
However, at the Nongfu Spring press conference that day, Zhong suddenly dropped a bombshell: tests proved that purified water was of no benefit to health, and he decided to stop producing purified water. To further provoke competitors, Nongfu Spring released three experimental data sets: a plant experiment with narcissus, an animal experiment on mouse survival rates, and a cell experiment with red blood cells. These comparative experiments between purified and natural water were broadcast on TV and other media for three months, again concluding that purified water was not beneficial to health.
Initially, competitors did not respond. But on June 8, Wahaha, unable to hold back, joined with 69 industry companies to hold a press conference by West Lake, accusing Nongfu Spring of being an "industry enemy." According to reports, Robust believed Nongfu Spring was using the guise of healthy water to confuse the public, lacking morality and responsibility. A delegation of six companies, including Wahaha and Robust, submitted complaints to five government departments, including the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, accusing Nongfu Spring of "unfair competition."
This undoubtedly played right into Zhong's trap.
On the evening of Wahaha's press conference, Nongfu Spring deliberately chose the same venue at the West Lake State Guesthouse to hold another press conference. To compete with purified water, Zhong launched a price war, dropping the promotional price of Nongfu water to 1 yuan.
For marketing performance, he was willing to defy the world. He even believed, "An enterprise that doesn't know how to hype is a mummy."
After this battle, the purified water market shrank, and many manufacturers began to shift their operations.
In 2001, Jinyi Group, which had been in a water war with Nongfu Spring a year earlier, invested 300 million yuan to buy out Wudalianchi in Northeast China and shifted to mineral water.
Wahaha, the leader in the water industry, also laid out plans in Jingyu County, Jilin, the "mineral water city" that Nongfu Spring was entering.
In 2003, Robust announced it would stop producing purified water.
"Some say we are traitors. I think we are a bit like Copernicus. Truth becomes clearer through debate, so this was also a revolution in consciousness," Zhong said later with a hint of pride.
> **The Decisive Battle with Master Kong**
In 2007, Master Kong's market share surged, making it the industry leader. At that time, Master Kong's mineral water had annual sales of several billion yuan. Nongfu Spring naturally would not sit idly by.
The acidity and alkalinity of water became a topic of public discussion. Behind the scenes, the mastermind was Zhong Shanshan. "Good advertising not only attracts user attention but, more importantly, gets users talking." At that time, this advertising motto was posted in the advertising department's meeting room, a principle instilled by this marketing-savvy chairman.
However, this time, Master Kong did not publicly respond. No matter what moves or tricks Nongfu Spring used, Master Kong refused to engage, naturally not wanting to be used. Yet the two sides fell into a "water source gate" dispute. Nongfu Spring's water source was allegedly Class IV water, unsuitable for drinking. Various online posts and media also accused both sides of being behind the attacks.
Nongfu Spring's growth history is a history of chaotic water industry battles. Each "water war," in hindsight, was an event marketing campaign, and regardless of praise or criticism, it directly expanded Nongfu Spring's market share. After two water wars, data showed that in December 2012, Nongfu Spring series product sales exceeded 10 billion yuan for the first time, making it the industry leader.
> **The "Standards" Incident Dealt a Heavy Blow to Nongfu Spring**
On March 8, 2013, media reported that a consumer, Ms. Li, found many black unknown substances in unopened bottles of Nongfu Spring 380ml natural drinking water purchased by her company. Nongfu Spring's response to this incident was questioned by the media, marking the beginning of the "Standards Gate" incident.
On April 12, the Beijing Times reported that the Drinking Water Association confirmed Nongfu Spring's standards were inferior to tap water.
After the news broke, Zhong responded immediately. Nongfu Spring published results of its four water source products compared against the "Standards for Drinking Water Quality" (tap water standards), claiming that all test results were comprehensively better than national tap water standards.
While responding to water quality standards, Zhong pointed the finger at competitor C'estbon, accusing it of orchestrating the negative news. In response, China Resources C'estbon quickly denied it via its official Weibo and stated it reserved all rights to take legal action against Nongfu Spring.
Zhong was not only fighting with water industry peers but also with the media. His official Weibo publicly released several water quality monitoring reports and repeatedly called out the Beijing Times, which had questioned his water safety, engaging in a war of words online.
From April 2013, over 27 days, the Beijing Times set a record for "one media outlet criticizing one enterprise," attacking Nongfu Spring's "Standards Gate" incident, claiming its standards were "inferior to tap water."
Due to the repeated confrontations and revelations between Nongfu Spring and the Beijing Times, society began a broad discussion on drinking water standards. Nongfu Spring's problems spread to the entire industry, leading to endless disputes over whether "national standards," "local standards," or "enterprise standards" were higher or lower, right or wrong. Nongfu Spring's own problems were not resolved, and they also affected peer companies.
By the end of April 2013, the losses from the "Standards Gate" exceeded 60 million yuan, and Nongfu Spring's sales were severely impacted. Nongfu Spring also announced it would abandon the Beijing barreled water market.
> **What Goes Around Comes Around**
The "Standards Gate" was not the first time Nongfu Spring faced backlash. Starting in June 2009, within just four months, Nongfu Spring experienced the "Water Source Gate" and the "Fake Donation Gate," and in November, it was mired in the "Arsenic Gate."
Competitors were relentless because it was "tit for tat." After all, what goes around comes around.
More than 20 years ago, Zhong analyzed himself in a letter: "I was too pitiful before, pitying my inexplicable self-respect and aloofness, looking down on all businessmen. That was too shallow. The capable among businessmen are the truly strong; the capable among literati are only half-strong." He then chose the path of a true strong person in business, diving into the water industry, only to find himself on a bumpy road filled with mixed reviews and endless ridicule.
Note: On July 20, 2016, Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd. published an apology to C'estbon in the Guangzhou Daily regarding the 2013 "Standards Gate" incident. That afternoon, Nongfu Spring posted on its official Weibo offering a 5 million yuan reward for clues about the 2013 "Standards Gate" incident.


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