---
title: "The Four Years Since Zong Qinghou Was No Longer the Richest Man in China"
description: "Zong Qinghou became the richest man on both the Hurun and Forbes lists in 2010 and again in 2012. However, starting in 2013, younger entrepreneurs Wang Jianlin and Jack Ma took turns at the top. This article explores what happened during the four years Zong was not the richest man, including the 2016 lists that put Wahaha in the spotlight, and how Zong and his company have adapted to new market realities while maintaining their core principles."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-12-06"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JGFuTA31dBWl2JUW72zd5Q"
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---

# The Four Years Since Zong Qinghou Was No Longer the Richest Man in China

> Zong Qinghou became the richest man on both the Hurun and Forbes lists in 2010 and again in 2012. However, starting in 2013, younger entrepreneurs Wang Jianlin and Jack Ma took turns at the top. This article explores what happened during the four years Zong was not the richest man, including the 2016 lists that put Wahaha in the spotlight, and how Zong and his company have adapted to new market realities while maintaining their core principles.

> **Preface:** Zong Qinghou became the richest man on both the Hurun and Forbes lists in 2010, and again in 2012. But starting in 2013, younger entrepreneurs Wang Jianlin and Jack Ma took turns at the top. What happened during the four years Zong was not the richest man?

The two 2016 lists once again put Wahaha in the spotlight. In October, the Hurun Research Institute released its 2016 Hurun Rich List, which ranked the Zong Qinghou family fifth with wealth of 112 billion yuan, down 23 billion from the previous year's 135 billion.

Earlier, in August, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce released its "2016 Top 500 Private Enterprises in China" report, which stated that Wahaha's 2015 revenue was 49.4 billion yuan, a decrease of 22.6 billion year-on-year, the lowest in years. If you jump to conclusions based solely on the 49.4 billion figure, then you are not qualified to talk about Wahaha...

Zong Qinghou admitted to encountering some difficulties, but he is very optimistic about the future. Recently, Wahaha's distributor conference was held grandly, and it launched 18 new products across 7 series to compete in the 2017 beverage market. In addition, Wahaha intends to bid for the American dairy giant Dean, use OAO to disrupt the internet, and its crystal diamond water supported the G20 summit...

This is an industry leader that no one can shake, constantly challenging itself. This is a giant enterprise that sticks to its main business and moves forward with small steps. Founded in 1987, the company has now gone through 29 years. As Wahaha faces a new generation of consumers and the wave of brand rejuvenation, it is gradually changing!

**"It is my whole life, all my dreams, all the meaning, value, labels, and symbols. It is proof that I existed in this world," Zong Qinghou said.

**To make Wahaha a century-old company and an immortal symbol, it needs future generations to inject new life into it. What Zong Qinghou can give Wahaha is like what Li Yunlong gave the Independent Regiment—something called 'soul' or 'spirit.'

**"The reason we chose to become entrepreneurs is not from our instinct, nor is it our true character. We were just in an era with no way out, desperately trying to find a way out for ourselves. When we get older, we look back and see that we actually carved out a path—a water path, 'of all the water, I only take one dipper to drink.'"**

**Let's listen to how author Chi Yuzhou talks about what has changed and what has remained unchanged for Zong Qinghou in the four years since he lost the title of richest man.**

**Unchanged Goal**
Last year's failure, this year continues to push for 100 billion

October 10, 2015, was Zong Qinghou's 70th birthday. In Chi Yuzhou's words, "Although it was worth celebrating, Zong Qinghou was not very happy."

After experiencing the first performance decline in 2012, Wahaha Group's overall sales turnover in 2014 fell 7% to 72 billion yuan, far from the 100 billion target, making it the worst year in recent performance.

In Chi Yuzhou's view, Zong Qinghou understood that 2014 was a very critical year for Wahaha's development, with profound changes in the market environment and consumer concepts.

In recent years, consumers have gained purchasing power and, facing many choices, tend to prefer fashionable, high-end products; moreover, at 70, he had to face post-90s consumers, a group he was not familiar with.

"I didn't ask Zong Qinghou about Wahaha's 2015 business goals, but I think the 100 billion figure won't change—this is a hurdle for Wahaha that must be crossed," Chi Yuzhou said.

But he also said that Wahaha rarely makes long-term plans, usually setting sales targets for the next year. "This has to do with Zong Qinghou's personality. He doesn't like to care about things too far ahead. He has said the market changes too fast to formulate strategies, and there's no time to think about so-called strategies. The only goal is survival."

**Unchanged Philosophy**
Eating and drinking are basic needs; buying maps to travel the country

Chi Yuzhou told reporters: "Zong Qinghou recently said that traditional industries are currently in a cold winter, but he believes Wahaha is in a sunrise industry because eating and drinking are inherent needs of people, basic needs. What Wahaha needs to do is better adapt to the new generation of consumers, not provide products with old concepts."

How did Zong Qinghou adapt to consumers before?

**Chi Yuzhou said, "He might be the person in China who buys the most maps. His bookshelves are densely packed with various maps, from provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities to highways and urban-rural road networks. The maps are usually marked with notes, marking places Zong Qinghou has personally inspected. For 28 years, he has worked 16 hours a day, spending more than 200 days a year on the front lines of the market, with footprints covering every corner of China's cities and countryside."**

Even now, his main way of understanding the market is still by walking. "He insists on going to various places to chat with distributors and vendors; this is his characteristic."

**Unchanged Management**
Still no deputy, created a unique 'joint sales system'

At the top of the Wahaha Group, how does Zong Qinghou manage and unite over 10,000 employees? "Jokingly, Zong Qinghou manages the company like an emperor reviewing memorials," Chi Yuzhou told reporters.

In terms of internal management mechanisms, Zong Qinghou still has no deputy. Management in areas such as production and sales is handled by department heads, and he directly controls over 200 core managers through monthly meetings.

Behind this lies Wahaha's proud "family culture": 30,000 employees, half of whom own company stock. In addition, for 25 years, Zong Qinghou has never dismissed an employee, and he spends half the year fighting on the front lines with employees, even spending 20 consecutive Spring Festivals with frontline workers.

Standing high above, yet also working alongside everyone, Zong Qinghou deeply understands the essence of "Chinese-style leadership."

In terms of channel control, to manage nearly 50,000 distributors across the country, Zong Qinghou also created the "joint sales system," which weaves a sales terminal marketing network covering more than 6,000 first-level wholesalers and 30,000 to 40,000 second- and third-level wholesalers across the country, forming a benefit alliance with distributors.

**Changes in Operations**
Diversification to ease bottlenecks, but internetization is impossible

In operations, Wahaha has tried to seek diversification to ease the bottleneck period of its main business.

Another former richest man, Liu Yonghao, founder of New Hope, once said that traditional industries should get out of difficulties by implementing "four modernizations": "youthification," "internationalization," "financialization," and "internetization."

Chi Yuzhou believes that in youthification and internationalization, Zong Qinghou's daughter Zong Fuli has made efforts; in financialization, although Wahaha Food City's listing was not successful, it has been trying.

"Zong Qinghou has even started to get involved in the industrial robot industry, but the only thing he can't do is internetization. Selling water online, the meager profit doesn't even cover shipping costs."

## **Changes in Succession**
No longer monopolizing power, beginning to delegate limited authority to his daughter

Zong Qinghou, now 71, inevitably faces the succession issue.

Currently, Zong Qinghou himself and the Wahaha Group have confirmed that Zong Fuli, born in 1982, is his successor.

Chi Yuzhou told reporters that when talking about his daughter, Zong Qinghou shows his softest side. "'Fuli' is a homophone for 'welfare,' which represents his deepest blessings for his daughter.

**At the beginning of 2014, the Queen of England invited Zong Qinghou to a dinner at Buckingham Palace, but he declined. His reason: 'It's just the Spring Festival, so going for a meal is not as good as staying home with family.'**

It is precisely because of this deep father-daughter affection that even though Zong Fuli "went abroad to study very early and was greatly influenced by foreign culture, she doesn't understand China's national conditions well, nor is she fully clear about foreign situations," Zong Qinghou still chose her.

**Chi Yuzhou said, "As far as I know, he no longer monopolizes all power as before, and has begun to delegate limited authority. Zong Fuli has also started to take over the family business, and there is no power struggle between them."**

Is she a princess? A successor? In fact, Zong Fuli has transformed from the inside out over ten years! Labels have been pasted all over her post-adolescence: second generation, princess, successor...

**Zong Fuli said, "I want to recreate a beverage empire, not following the old rules, hoping to lead a change in consumer concepts, because someone needs to do this!"**

She chose to silently practice for over a decade, building an industrial empire like her father, unhurried and without making a fuss. It wasn't until the summer of 2016, when KellyOne was freshly launched, that we were surprised to discover: Kelly's successful advancement in industry is because she laid the groundwork for ten years and played a good game of chess.

The former "OEM princess" has hidden the brand image that Wahaha has used for nearly 30 years, creating an internet custom beverage, from B2B to B2C. For Wahaha, which once focused on second- and third-tier cities, this is obviously avant-garde and risky, but for Kelly, it is exactly the advancement that best suits her personality. She is still the successor of the family business, but her goal is higher: to be a leader in the industry, inheriting her father's business under the premise of innovation.

**In her entrepreneurial journey, she is getting closer to her father.**

-END-

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