According to the Guizhou Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision: Recently, with the approval of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, the Guizhou Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision conducted a disciplinary review and supervisory investigation into Yuan Renguo, former deputy secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd., and former chairman of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd., for serious disciplinary and legal violations. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Supervisory Commission website published the following: Yuan Renguo seriously violated political discipline and political rules, using Moutai's distribution rights as a tool to curry favor and exchange interests, engaging in political climbing to gain political capital; He engaged in power-for-power and power-for-money transactions, providing convenience for illegal distributors to operate Moutai liquor business, seriously damaging the Moutai marketing environment; He engaged in "family-style corruption"; He transferred illicit money and goods, colluded with others to provide consistent stories, and resisted organizational review. He violated organizational discipline by failing to truthfully report personal matters. He violated integrity discipline by engaging in profit-making activities without authorization, illegally obtaining huge benefits; and engaging in power-for-sex and money-for-sex transactions. He violated national laws and regulations, using his position to seek benefits for others, illegally accepting property from others in extremely large amounts, suspected of bribery crimes. As a party member leading cadre and the head of a key state-owned enterprise in Guizhou Province, Yuan Renguo treated the management rights of the state-owned enterprise entrusted by the Party and the people as a tool for personal and family gain, seriously violating Party discipline and national laws and regulations. Moreover, he did not restrain himself or stop after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and his behavior was extremely serious and should be dealt with severely. In accordance with the "Regulations on Disciplinary Actions of the Communist Party of China" and the "Supervision Law of the People's Republic of China," and after deliberation by the Standing Committee of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the meeting of the Provincial Supervisory Commission, and with the approval of the Provincial Party Committee, it was decided to expel Yuan Renguo from the Party and public office, and transfer his suspected criminal issues to the procuratorial organ for legal handling. The Man Behind the Moutai Miracle Yuan Renguo, who spent his entire career helping Moutai overcome difficulties, faced confusion on how to overcome his own. Who is Yuan Renguo? Entering Moutai at the age of 19, Yuan Renguo started as a frontline liquor maker, and held positions such as supply and marketing, publicity, factory office director, workshop director and party branch secretary, assistant to the factory director, deputy general manager, etc. In 2000, Yuan Renguo took over the mantle from "Moutai godfather" Ji Keliang and became the new helmsman of Kweichow Moutai. The following year, Yuan Renguo led Kweichow Moutai to the capital market. That year, Kweichow Moutai's revenue was 1.618 billion yuan, and net profit was 328 million yuan. After Yuan Renguo took office, Moutai immediately entered a mode of rapid growth. In 2017, Kweichow Moutai achieved revenue of 58.2 billion yuan, an increase of 35 times compared to 2001, and net profit of 29 billion yuan, an increase of 84 times compared to 2001. From a frontline liquor maker to the top position of Moutai Group, the 63-year-old Yuan Renguo is undoubtedly a figure intertwined with legend and controversy. During his 18 years in charge of Kweichow Moutai, he overtook Wuliangye domestically and surpassed global liquor giant Diageo to become the "world's liquor king." The listed company's market value once exceeded one trillion yuan, and Moutai Group's revenue increased 48 times, with net profit increasing 68 times. At the 2017 Moutai National Distributors' Association Meeting, Yuan Renguo summarized Moutai's 20-year marketing journey: The distributor team grew from 146 in 1998 to more than 2,000 domestic distributors and exclusive shops, with the marketing network covering all prefecture-level cities and more than 30% of county-level cities. There were 104 overseas agents, covering 66 countries and regions. The company's sales staff grew from the initial 17-person team to 553, plus more than 20,000 distributor marketing personnel. However, a good start does not guarantee a good ending. Everything came to an abrupt halt in the late night of May 6, 2018. On that day, the Moutai Group cadre meeting lasted until after 11 p.m. Li Yifei, member of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee and head of the Organization Department, announced at Moutai Group: one was the nomination of Li Baofang as chairman of Moutai Group, with the appointment subject to legal procedures; the other was that Yuan Renguo would no longer serve as chairman of Moutai Group. Regarding the reason for Yuan Renguo's sudden departure, Moutai earlier stated that it was "normal retirement, please do not speculate too much," and Yuan Renguo himself responded to the media that he left "due to age." Ironically, from the second half of 2018, rumors about Yuan Renguo being "investigated" surfaced repeatedly. On May 5 this year, after Yuan Renguo was removed from all his positions in the Guizhou Provincial Political Consultative Conference, various rumors arose again. Moutai also tried to distance itself, saying that "the former chairman's removal from the CPPCC position has nothing to do with Moutai Group now." Why Did Moutai Abandon Its Meritorious Figure? Moutai's glory is inseparable from the marketing system created by Yuan Renguo, but it also became a breeding ground for corruption among distributors, and several Moutai executives from the Yuan Renguo era were investigated one after another. Let's rewind to the summer of 1998. The financial crisis swept across Asia, severely impacting the domestic liquor industry. Moutai, which used to be "a daughter of the emperor who doesn't worry about marriage," began to worry. By July, only one-third of the 2,000-ton sales target had been completed. It was in this year that Yuan Renguo was appointed at a critical moment. A month later, Moutai established a sales company, and Yuan Renguo personally selected 17 marketing personnel to form the first marketing team in Moutai's history, breaking the planned economy sales system. After training, this marketing team, known as the "daredevil team," quickly went to markets across the country. Yuan Renguo himself even cooked a home-cooked meal for the heads of various sugar and liquor companies, inviting them to drink "wine of hardship" to help Moutai overcome the difficulties. By the end of the year, Moutai not only completed its sales tasks on schedule but also achieved the best performance in its history at that time. "No matter what time, Moutai must adhere to the principle of market and customer orientation, must not forget the contributions of distributors, and must not abandon the view of treating distributors as gods and benefactors," Yuan Renguo once publicly stated. Many distributors unanimously said that Yuan Renguo had a good relationship with distributors during his tenure. During Yuan Renguo's tenure, incidents of officials, Moutai executives, and employees interfering in distributor agency rights for personal gain occurred from time to time. According to a report by Times Weekly, from 2008 to 2018, several senior executives, including former Kweichow Moutai General Manager Qiao Hong, former Moutai Group Deputy Party Secretary and Deputy General Manager Fang Guoxing, and former Kweichow Moutai Chief Financial Officer and Deputy General Manager Tan Dinghua, were sentenced to prison for accepting bribes of over ten million yuan. Many cases involved providing help to Moutai distributors and suppliers, or operating multiple Moutai exclusive shops in the name of relatives. In addition, distributors hoarding goods, scalpers speculating, cross-regional selling, and counterfeit products frequently occurred, pushing the market to the brink of chaos. To avoid losing control, Yuan Renguo launched a package of plans to strengthen management of distributors; in late April 2017, Moutai Marketing Company issued two disciplinary documents in succession, reporting and holding 82 defaulting distributors accountable. This iron-fisted approach to market governance became one of Yuan Renguo's key tasks in his later years in charge of Moutai. But this time the brakes failed, and Yuan Renguo himself fell into the "sinner" of Moutai's history. How to Judge Merits and Faults? The news of Yuan Renguo's expulsion from the Party and public office left many netizens sighing: Regarding the relationship between corruption and Moutai liquor, Yuan Renguo once said in an interview: "Anti-corruption makes Moutai live better." Moutai does not want to become "corrupt liquor." But some distributors also commented: "Yuan Renguo is a typical businessman." "Yuan Renguo's contribution to Moutai is still significant," a former Moutai employee in Guizhou, Chen Zhe (pseudonym), told Times Weekly. "Now in Guizhou, Yuan Renguo has become a sensitive topic, and most people avoid talking about it." Zhu Danpeng, an analyst in China's food industry, said: "We cannot deny Yuan Renguo's positive role in Moutai's development." Cai Xuefei, a senior liquor industry analyst, said: "Yuan Renguo is a meritorious figure in Moutai's rapid development, but under rapid growth, Moutai bears unshirkable supervisory responsibility for channel irregularities." Only when the coffin is closed can the final verdict be made; History will have its own judgment; The romantic figures are always beaten by wind and rain.

Appendix: Yuan Renguo's Resume

Yuan Renguo, male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1956 in Renhuai, Guizhou, with an on-the-job graduate degree. He started working in April 1974 and joined the Communist Party of China in July 1982.

November 1990 – January 1997: Member of the Party Committee and Deputy Factory Director of Guizhou Moutai Distillery;

January 1997 – May 1998: Member of the Party Committee, Director, and Deputy General Manager of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd.;

May 1998 – August 2004: Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, General Manager, and Vice Chairman of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd., concurrently serving as General Manager and Chairman of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd.;

August 2004 – October 2011: Secretary of the Party Committee, General Manager, and Vice Chairman of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd., concurrently serving as Chairman of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd.;

October 2011 – January 2017: Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd., concurrently serving as Chairman of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd.;

January 2017 – February 2018: Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd., Deputy Director of the Financial and Economic Committee of the Guizhou Provincial People's Congress, concurrently serving as Chairman of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd.;

February 2018 – May 2018: Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd., Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the Guizhou Provincial Political Consultative Conference, concurrently serving as Chairman of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd.;

In May 2018, he no longer served as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd., and Chairman of Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd.

In May 2019, he was removed from the position of Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the Guizhou Provincial Political Consultative Conference and had his qualification as a member of the Political Consultative Conference revoked. Source: Times Weekly, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Supervisory Commission website Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted China FMCG + Internet Professional New Media Committed to FMCG manufacturer and distributor transformation and upgrading and channel digital solutions