---
title: "The Rebellious Entrepreneurial Journey of Zong Fuli, Daughter of Zong Qinghou"
description: "Hongsheng Beverage Group is a top 500 private enterprise that grew independently from a Wahaha production base. My entrepreneurial story began after I returned to China in 2004. At that time, I had just come back from the United States. In the eyes of outsiders, I was a rich girl born with a silver spoon. I was sent to a top American girls' school at 14, and my father's Wahaha was a large enterprise with assets of nearly 8 billion yuan. There were also rumors that I would take over my father's business. Thus, labels like 'second-generation rich' and 'successor' became attached to me. Actually..."
author: "宗馥莉"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2017-06-01"
language: "en"
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# The Rebellious Entrepreneurial Journey of Zong Fuli, Daughter of Zong Qinghou

> Hongsheng Beverage Group is a top 500 private enterprise that grew independently from a Wahaha production base. My entrepreneurial story began after I returned to China in 2004. At that time, I had just come back from the United States. In the eyes of outsiders, I was a rich girl born with a silver spoon. I was sent to a top American girls' school at 14, and my father's Wahaha was a large enterprise with assets of nearly 8 billion yuan. There were also rumors that I would take over my father's business. Thus, labels like 'second-generation rich' and 'successor' became attached to me. Actually...

Hongsheng Beverage Group is a top 500 private enterprise that grew independently from a Wahaha production base. My entrepreneurial story began after I returned to China in 2004.
At that time, I had just come back from the United States. In the eyes of outsiders, I was a rich girl born with a silver spoon. I was sent to a top American girls' school at 14, and my father's Wahaha was a large enterprise with assets of nearly 8 billion yuan. There were also rumors that I would take over my father's business. Thus, labels like 'second-generation rich' and 'successor' became attached to me.
Actually, I have always been strong-willed since childhood, and I really don't like such labels. I am grateful to my parents for giving me a wealthy life, and I never deny my father's help to me. But how should I unfold my own life, and what can I do to prove the existence of 'Zong Fuli'? Whether to take over the family business has never been my focus; relying on my own strength to walk my own path is what I truly want.
At the beginning, I worked as a grassroots manager at Wahaha Group's Xiaoshan No. 2 Base. To quickly familiarize myself with beverage production, R&D, sales, and other aspects, I spent every day with ordinary employees on the front line, shuttling between major exhibitions. Two years later, I became the president of Hongsheng Group, spun it off from Wahaha Group, and started my own entrepreneurial journey. After 10 years of continuous effort, it has grown into a corporate group with 16 production bases and over 40 branch companies.
When I became the head of Hongsheng at 25, in my father's eyes, I was still an inexperienced young girl. From my secretary, the group's finance and administration, to the branch managers, all were handpicked by him. This kind of nanny-like protection, treating me like a 'princess,' made me feel restrained and further ignited my desire to venture out on my own. I thought that only by stepping out from under my father's wings could I become a better version of myself. Even if it meant taking detours and enduring hardships, I wanted to manage the enterprise my own way.
My father built Wahaha with his 'family culture,' but I believe there are differences between generations. I can learn from him spiritually, but in management, I need to be independent. I want to create a different beverage empire in my own way. Within less than a year, some of the capable aides my father sent either returned to Wahaha because they couldn't adapt to my management style, or were reassigned to other positions in Hongsheng Group. Gradually, my father's attitude toward what I was doing shifted from worry and misunderstanding to non-interference and non-opposition.
After returning to China, I felt out of place for a long time, especially in dealing with government departments. I was also sharp-tongued in some remarks, which sparked public discussion. After learning about the situation, leaders from the United Front Work Department took the initiative to talk with me and help resolve my concerns. I deeply felt the tolerance and expectations of the Party and government for our younger generation, and it strengthened my confidence and courage to focus on real business.
When Hongsheng expanded a new factory, local government leaders personally coordinated, from power and water supply before construction to environmental safety supervision after construction, and production started within just 9 months. This deeply impressed me, refreshed my understanding of government efficiency, and deepened my recognition of the Chinese model. I realized that the Party and government genuinely care about and support enterprise development, sparing no effort to solve problems for enterprises. Later, I actively participated in the CPPCC, the Federation of Industry and Commerce, and chamber of commerce organizations, offering suggestions to the government, conveying the voices of enterprises, and doing what I could. Through practice, I gained a lot of experience.
Hongsheng started as a beverage OEM, and many molds, flavors, and other equipment and raw materials had to be imported at high prices, making us dependent on others. After taking charge of Hongsheng, from the perspective of nutrition, health, and safety in the food industry, I proposed the concept of a full industry chain layout, integrated and transformed industrial resources, and made bold investments in supporting industries. Within less than 3 years, Hongsheng completed a full industry chain layout centered on beverage production, resulting in 30 invention patents, 56 utility model patents, and 7 provincial-level scientific and technological achievements. We also participated in the formulation of two national and industry standards, providing strong support for the R&D and improvement of new technologies and processes, greatly enhancing market response capability, accelerating the speed of new product launches, and significantly strengthening the core competitiveness of the enterprise.
Once, I led a delegation to an exhibition in Dubai. In the vast Dubai exhibition hall, the Chinese zone was arranged in a remote corner, and our beverage products were squeezed together with agricultural products like white fungus and soybeans, barely attracting the attention of merchants. I deeply felt that Chinese food products had low status and that the overseas influence of Chinese brands was very small.
It was this strong impact that made me more determined to pursue an international route, to push Chinese products to the world and make Chinese brands world brands. I established an import and export company to expand overseas markets. I also set up an R&D center focused on Chinese food culture research, further exploring China's rich resources of characteristic plants such as goji berries, red dates, and tea, to create traditional Chinese healthy food flavors, and to showcase Chinese dietary concepts and culture to the world through products.
We developed 27 flavors of high-end tea beverages, including sugar-free and low-sugar herbal teas and fruit teas, targeting mainstream European and American markets. To bring 'Chinese-style' beverages overseas, I led multiple delegations to national and world-class food and beverage exhibitions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, South Africa, and other countries, and regularly visited embassies, consulates, and commercial institutions to introduce Chinese beverage products and corporate culture. At international exhibitions, these tea beverages with strong Chinese elements were well received.
The transformation and upgrading of traditional food enterprises must also ride the fast train of the Internet. Last year, I developed the first health fruit and vegetable juice beverage in the country, featuring 'personalization, customization, and freshness,' allowing young consumers to customize their own beverages online. This innovative consumption model meets the needs of consumers at different levels. Now, this consumption model has covered Shanghai and Hangzhou. With a simple tap on the phone screen, you can choose any combination of fruits and vegetables and enjoy fresh, zero-additive juice within a specified time.
To enhance China's influence and voice in the international food field, the most critical factor is talent. Adhering to the concept of 'for the industry, not for the enterprise,' I donated 70 million yuan to jointly establish the Zhejiang University Fuli Food Research Institute with Zhejiang University, to cultivate top talents in the food and beverage industry with international advanced teaching concepts. At the first undergraduate graduation ceremony last year, I encouraged them, saying, 'Today you graduate. You don't have to join my company to work for me, but I hope you can shine in China's food industry, let Chinese people have a say in the world food industry, and let national brands truly become world brands.'
Ten years of hard work, ten years of growth. Looking back on the path I have walked over the past decade or more, I see the care and support of the Party and government, the selfless love of my parents, and the encouragement and urging of the older generation of Zhejiang entrepreneurs. I am fortunate that over the years, I have been devoted to one thing: rooting in China's food and beverage industry, bringing Chinese food culture to the world, and driving the upgrading and development of traditional industries through innovation. Because I firmly believe that by walking my own path and doing one thing down-to-earth, I will definitely achieve something, and Chinese beverage brands will surely go global and shine in the world!
(The author is Zong Fuli, President of Hongsheng Beverage Group Co., Ltd.)
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