---
title: "Uncovering Infinitus: Lee Kum Kee, a Century-Old Sauce Maker, Transforms into a Health Products Leader with Annual Revenue of 24.9 Billion"
description: "Infinitus, the top direct-selling health products company in China for three consecutive years, faces scrutiny after a child allegedly suffered heart damage from consuming its products. The company, founded by the Lee family behind Lee Kum Kee, has grown into a dominant player in the industry, but recent incidents have raised questions about its practices."
author: "财天作者"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2019-01-20"
language: "en"
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# Uncovering Infinitus: Lee Kum Kee, a Century-Old Sauce Maker, Transforms into a Health Products Leader with Annual Revenue of 24.9 Billion

> Infinitus, the top direct-selling health products company in China for three consecutive years, faces scrutiny after a child allegedly suffered heart damage from consuming its products. The company, founded by the Lee family behind Lee Kum Kee, has grown into a dominant player in the industry, but recent incidents have raised questions about its practices.

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This article is republished with permission from Finance World Weekly (ID: cjtxzk); Author: Yu Zhang, Editor: Liang Ye.
**On the wall of Infinitus Chairman Li Huisen's office hangs a calligraphy piece: "Think of others and benefit from it."**
Another health products company operating on a direct-selling model has "exploded."
Following Quanjian and Hualin, Infinitus, which has ranked first in the direct-selling industry for three consecutive years, has fallen into turmoil. First, a 3-year-old girl in Shangluo, Shaanxi Province, was diagnosed with myocardial damage and other conditions by multiple hospitals after taking large amounts of Infinitus products. Then it was reported that a man who developed kidney disease from Sanlu milk powder spent over 40,000 yuan on Infinitus products and died.
On January 19, 2019, according to Xinhua News, regarding the "child suspected of myocardial damage from taking Infinitus products," the Xi'an Industry and Commerce Bureau has instructed the Yanta Branch to file a case to investigate whether Infinitus Shaanxi Branch is suspected of false advertising; and instructed the Lantian County Market Supervision Administration to file a case to investigate whether distributor Fan Le is suspected of false advertising. The cases are currently under further investigation.
On the evening of the 19th, Infinitus responded, saying it would actively cooperate with the investigation, support and respect the market supervision department's lawful administration, and take this as a lesson for self-reflection and self-inspection.
**The Second Mission of the Sauce Kingdom**
On the wall of Infinitus Chairman Li Huisen's office hangs a calligraphy piece: "Think of others and benefit from it."
These four characters come from the Tang Dynasty calligrapher Yan Zhenqing's "Zhengzuo Wei Tie," meaning: Only by putting the interests of others first can one obtain stable and lasting benefits for oneself.
After Li Huisen's father, Li Wenda, obtained this calligraphy from a collector of calligraphy and paintings, "Think of others and benefit from it" became the business philosophy of the Li family. Li Wenda often used his grandfather's old stories to prove that their family had such a tradition. It is said that when his grandfather Li Jinshang was doing business in his early years, every New Year, he would burn the credit ledgers of the year to help the local people who were struggling.
At that time, Li Jinshang ran a tea stall in a small fishing village in Nanshui, Zhuhai. At the age of 17, he accidentally discovered that the juice from overcooked oysters was very delicious. After repeated research, Li Jinshang made oyster sauce. Nanshui in Zhuhai was famous for producing oysters, and the oyster sauce made from Nanshui oysters was tasty. With Li Jinshang's proper cooking method and concentration, gradually, not only locals but also merchants from Guangzhou, Macau, and other places came to purchase oyster sauce.
In 1888, Li Jinshang asked someone to write the sign "Lee Kum Kee." Four years later, a fire broke out in Nanshui, and the Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce Factory was reduced to ashes. Li Jinshang took his wife and children to Macau and continued to operate Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce.
In 1932, on the 10th anniversary of Li Jinshang's death, his son Li Zhaonan moved the Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce Factory to Hong Kong, using Hong Kong as a springboard to expand internationally. In 1936, Li Zhaonan seized the opportunity to enter the North American Chinese market.
Unfortunately, good times did not last long. At that time, Lee Kum Kee only had one oyster sauce product, with relatively backward production methods, and barely survived on decades of brand reputation. Meanwhile, during the 1950s and 1960s, Hong Kong's economy was in a slump, and the prospects for industry and commerce were bleak. Some members of the Li family began to waver, feeling that Lee Kum Kee had no future and wanting to protect their shares and interests.
In 1970, to quell conflicts, Li Zhaonan bought all shares of Lee Kum Kee for HK$4.6 million, recalled his eldest son Li Wenda from Macau, and appointed him as chairman of the company. Fourteen years later, Li Wenda bought the shares from his younger brother for HK$8 million.
During Li Wenda's tenure at Lee Kum Kee, the company began exploring product diversification. In 1972, taking advantage of President Nixon's visit to China, Li Wenda launched "Panda" brand cooking oil and entered the US market. Soon, various novel products such as chili sauce, sweet and sour sauce, soy sauce chicken juice, and spare rib sauce went from Lee Kum Kee's laboratory to supermarket shelves.
In the 1980s, Lee Kum Kee began to abandon traditional methods and adopted high-tech automated mass production, developing over 100 varieties of condiments, reaching more than 80 countries and regions worldwide. In the new century, Lee Kum Kee was rated as one of Hong Kong's Top Ten Enterprises of the Millennium, and was recognized as the "Enterprise with the Most Enduring Brand and Reputation."
But in Li Wenda's view, spreading traditional Chinese food culture to the world through sauces was only fulfilling one mission. Lee Kum Kee's second mission was to spread Chinese herbal health products to the world.
Li Wenda entrusted this mission to his youngest son, Li Huisen. In 1992, Li Huisen founded Southern Lee Kum Kee Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong Lee Kum Kee Group, and the predecessor of Infinitus Co., Ltd.
**Southern Lee Kum Kee in Difficulties**
One day in November 1992, at the Huiqiao Building of Guangzhou Southern Hospital, Li Wenda met with Zhao Yunhong, the president of the former PLA First Military Medical University. After only an hour of conversation, they reached a cooperation intention. On December 8 of the same year, Lee Kum Kee signed a 50-year cooperation agreement with the First Military Medical University, establishing a school-run joint venture, Southern Lee Kum Kee Co., Ltd., with shares split 51:49. The factory was built on campus, researching and producing Infinitus series herbal health products and daily necessities. Zhao Yunhong's daughter, Zhao Xiaoli, served as the Chinese side's chief representative, i.e., deputy general manager, participating in corporate management.
On August 8, 1994, Southern Lee Kum Kee's first product—Infinitus Zengjian Oral Liquid—was launched. According to Lee Kum Kee, this product was the result of over 20 years of scientific research by the PLA First Military Medical University. To this day, Zengjian Oral Liquid remains Infinitus's flagship product. The child recently reported in the media who suffered myocardial damage from excessive consumption of Infinitus products had taken this oral liquid.
At that time, the direct-selling model had been introduced to China from the United States, Japan, and other countries for only five or six years, and various direct-selling enterprises quickly took root in China. Many foreign direct-selling companies such as Avon, Amway, Sunrider, and Perfect set up branches in China, built factories, and started production. Local direct-selling companies were also incubated successfully, with the famous Tiens Group born during this period.
At the same time, illegal pyramid schemes followed. At that time, China lacked laws and regulations on direct selling and had no management experience, leading to chaotic development of illegal pyramid scheme companies and "rat clubs" across the country. Their brainwashing method of developing downlines brought devastating blows to many families.
Just three days after the launch of Infinitus Zengjian Oral Liquid, the former State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued the "Notice on Stopping Illegal Activities in Multi-Level Direct Selling," putting a stop to illegal multi-level direct selling activities. On September 2 of the same year, the former State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued the "Notice on Investigating and Dealing with Illegal Activities in Multi-Level Direct Selling." In April 1996, China approved 41 direct-selling enterprises to conduct direct-selling business, and Southern Lee Kum Kee was one of them; in January of the following year, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce promulgated the "Measures for the Administration of Direct Selling."
The government used various measures to try to bring this new sales model onto the right track, but under the temptation of huge profits, direct selling was like an untamable wild horse.
On April 21, 1998, the State Council issued a ban, completely stopping all forms of direct selling activities. In the same year, Zhao Xiaoli left Southern Lee Kum Kee, taking with her some technical personnel involved in Infinitus product development. In June 1999, Zhao Xiaoli cooperated with Sanjiu Group to establish Guangdong Jiuji Daily Necessities and Health Products Co., Ltd., mainly dealing in herbal oral liquid health products.
In Southern Lee Kum Kee's public materials, the experience of 1998 is regarded as the most severe test since its founding.
In August, Southern Lee Kum Kee complied with national policy, transforming to rely on specialty stores and adopting wholesale and retail methods for product sales; in December, because national regulations stipulated that the military could not be involved in direct selling, Southern Lee Kum Kee parted ways with the First Military Medical University and became a wholly-owned enterprise under the Lee Kum Kee Group.
**From Lee Kum Kee to Infinitus**
Under the ban, Southern Lee Kum Kee did not stop its rapid development.
After transforming to the specialty store model, within just one year, more than 500 Infinitus specialty stores sprang up like mushrooms. In May 1999, Southern Lee Kum Kee underwent business restructuring with Guangdong Yanuojian Daily Necessities and Health Products Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the parent group, enriching the Infinitus product line.
In March 2001, after a marathon meeting lasting four days at Guangzhou Songyuan Hotel, Southern Lee Kum Kee's first "Five-Year Plan" was unveiled. Chairman Li Huisen proposed focusing on the mainland market within five years before considering overseas expansion. In the same year, Southern Lee Kum Kee was awarded the title of "Top 50 Health Products Enterprises in China" by the China Health Products Association. In 2002, the number of Infinitus specialty stores exceeded 700, covering 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions nationwide. In September 2004, Southern Lee Kum Kee's first "Five-Year Plan" was fully completed, one year ahead of schedule.
On February 26, 2005, Southern Lee Kum Kee announced its second "Five-Year Plan." At that time, China's direct-selling industry began to end the "total ban" phase that had lasted for seven years. The "Regulations on the Administration of Direct Selling" and the "Regulations on the Prohibition of Pyramid Schemes" were promulgated and implemented that year, clearly distinguishing between direct selling and pyramid schemes. In February of the following year, the Ministry of Commerce issued the first direct-selling license to Avon (China) Co., Ltd.
Without a license, products could not be sold through the direct-selling model. But even during the period when direct selling was explicitly prohibited, some companies still skirted the rules, changing from "person-to-person" to "store-to-store," developing through store team commission systems.
Southern Lee Kum Kee once fell into such a controversy. In 2006, 36-year-old Peng, after reading a book titled "Turning Point," was attracted by the introduction of Infinitus specialty stores and converted his own store into an Infinitus store. But not long after, Peng's store was sealed by the local industry and commerce department on suspicion of illegal pyramid schemes, based on the compensation system disclosed in "Turning Point" and the commission details provided by Southern Lee Kum Kee Co., Ltd.
Subsequently, Southern Lee Kum Kee denied any relationship with the book "Turning Point." Yang Guojin, then general manager of Lee Kum Kee Health Products Group, said in an interview: "The book 'Turning Point' is not our company's publication at all, and Peng Zaijun is not our authorized distributor. Southern Lee Kum Kee does not endorse the compensation method mentioned in 'Turning Point.'"
On February 25, 2007, Southern Lee Kum Kee, as a foreign-invested enterprise, obtained approval from the Ministry of Commerce to conduct direct-selling business in 14 cities in Guangdong Province, including Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Zhuhai, involving 9 health foods, 29 cosmetics, and 1 cleaning product. At that time, Southern Lee Kum Kee had 31 branches nationwide and over 2,000 specialty stores.
Two years later, Southern Lee Kum Kee held a strategic promotion conference in Guangzhou, officially renaming the company Infinitus (China) Co., Ltd., with its affiliation with Lee Kum Kee Health Products Group unchanged. Since then, the company's name, business brand, and product brand were unified as "Infinitus," ending the awkward situation of separation for 16 years.
The year before, Southern Lee Kum Kee's annual performance reached 3 billion yuan, and it invested 138 million yuan to build the second phase of its production base in Xinhui, with expected future production capacity exceeding 10 billion yuan. At this time, abandoning the golden signboard of "Lee Kum Kee," some analyzed that sauces and health products are two different industries. "Lee Kum Kee" is highly renowned domestically and internationally, having formed a strong brand image in consumers' minds, which would inevitably affect the development of Infinitus products.
**The Road to Southern Hegemony**
In the north, there is Quanjian; in the south, there is Infinitus. Not long ago, when Quanjian's incident occurred, netizens listed many direct-selling health product brands, among which Infinitus was regarded as another giant comparable to Quanjian.
But from recent performance, Infinitus is the undisputed leader in the direct-selling industry, and Quanjian may not be able to compete. Taking the 2017 China Direct Selling Industry Performance Ranking as an example, Infinitus ranked first with 24.9 billion yuan in performance, topping the list for the third consecutive year, while Quanjian ranked fourth with 17.6 billion yuan, with established foreign direct-selling companies Perfect and Amway in between.
Since its renaming in 2009, Infinitus has rapidly expanded. In 2009, in the global direct-selling enterprise top 100 list released by the US Direct Selling News, Infinitus ranked 19th with a turnover of $660 million; in 2010, its turnover increased by 27% to $838 million, ranking 17th in the world, and was the only Chinese direct-selling company in the top 30; in 2011, Infinitus's sales increased to $1.247 billion, rising another 4 places.
In 2012, Infinitus celebrated its 20th anniversary, with promotional activities for the anniversary lasting the entire year. Infinitus published three new books, held commendation ceremonies, hosted health carnivals, and launched a series of promotional videos each quarter. In the same year, Infinitus held World Walking Day events in 20 cities, invited Chen Kun to share at the press conference, and invited Eason Chan to sing the event theme song "Believe in Yourself Infinitus," which later became the theme song of Jiangsu TV's variety show "The Brain."
In December, Infinitus cooperated with Guangdong TV to comprehensively promote the "Infinitus" brand image, product image, corporate culture, and health concepts. At the end of the year, Guangdong TV's New Year's Eve concert was sponsored by Infinitus.
People began to see "Infinitus" frequently in various places.
In addition to traditional print advertising, Infinitus sponsored CCTV10's famous health program "Health Road," which was also rebroadcast by many local TV stations; in the daily "Weather Forecast" on CCTV's comprehensive channel, the weather forecast for Wuhan displayed an old Infinitus Zengjian Oral Liquid advertisement; Guangdong TV had high-frequency ad exposure, with banner ads for Infinitus product activities appearing from time to time during prime-time drama slots. Infinitus did not miss online variety shows, sponsoring Tencent Video's "Scream for Passersby" and "Big Names Coming" in succession.
What's more, Infinitus put its ads on high-speed trains. From December 2018 to May 2019, Infinitus high-speed rail special trains would run on the Beijing-Shanghai and Shenzhen-Shanghai busy routes.
After the Quanjian incident, Infinitus was actually very cautious.
In the early morning of January 7, 2019, Tianjin public security organs criminally detained 18 criminal suspects, including Quanjian's actual controller Shu Yuhui. At 19:00 that afternoon, Infinitus published supplementary regulations to its "Business Code (2018 Edition)" on its official website, which clearly stated that exaggerated and false publicity and sales promotion were strictly prohibited, and using the company's name or resources for illegal activities was prohibited, with the highest penalty being a ninth-level punishment.
According to reports from Zhongxin Jingwei, after the supplementary regulations were issued, Infinitus salespeople's tone changed instantly. They changed their WeChat Moments to "visible for three days only," prohibited sharing topics that exaggerated efficacy or flaunted wealth, and canceled all meetings and activities.
But Rome wasn't built in a day. The recent incident of "child suspected of myocardial damage from taking Infinitus products" occurred between July and November 2017. After media reports drew attention, people gradually dug up multiple death lawsuits related to Infinitus.
A man in Henan had kidney problems due to eating Sanlu milk powder as a child. In February 2014, he was again diagnosed with "bilateral kidney stones and renal insufficiency." Introduced by someone, he began taking Infinitus health products, spending more than 46,000 yuan, but his condition worsened, and he died in February 2018; in March 2016, a patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura began taking large amounts of various Infinitus products under the introduction of an Infinitus salesperson, and died 25 days later due to cerebral hemorrhage and other causes.
Whether Infinitus can escape unscathed from this wave remains to be seen.
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