---
title: "Zong Qinghou Has No Specific Retirement Plan, Daughter Zong Fuli Still Single at 37"
description: "The daughter may not necessarily be the successor. On April 21, Wahaha Group responded to reporters that 'Mr. Zong (Zong Qinghou) currently has no specific retirement plan.' On April 20, reports said that Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Wahaha, mentioned retirement for the first time, saying 'I think I should prepare to step back to the second line.' Reports said that stepping back to the second line does not mean full retirement, as Zong Qinghou stated, 'Full retirement may not be realistic. After getting used to it, suddenly doing nothing would cause problems. I think I will step back to the second line in the future. Let them work in the front, and I will watch from behind. If there are deviations, I will correct them.'"
author: "New Distribution"
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published: "2019-04-21"
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# Zong Qinghou Has No Specific Retirement Plan, Daughter Zong Fuli Still Single at 37

> The daughter may not necessarily be the successor. On April 21, Wahaha Group responded to reporters that 'Mr. Zong (Zong Qinghou) currently has no specific retirement plan.' On April 20, reports said that Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Wahaha, mentioned retirement for the first time, saying 'I think I should prepare to step back to the second line.' Reports said that stepping back to the second line does not mean full retirement, as Zong Qinghou stated, 'Full retirement may not be realistic. After getting used to it, suddenly doing nothing would cause problems. I think I will step back to the second line in the future. Let them work in the front, and I will watch from behind. If there are deviations, I will correct them.'

**The daughter may not necessarily be the successor.**
On April 21, Wahaha Group responded to reporters that "Mr. Zong (Zong Qinghou) currently has no specific retirement plan."
On April 20, reports said that Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Wahaha, mentioned retirement for the first time, saying "I think I should prepare to step back to the second line." Reports said that stepping back to the second line does not mean full retirement, as Zong Qinghou stated, "Full retirement may not be realistic. After getting used to it, suddenly doing nothing would cause problems. I think I will step back to the second line in the future. Let them work in the front, and I will watch from behind. If there are deviations, I will correct them."
Zong Qinghou, now 74 years old, admitted publicly last year that he had "already stepped back to the second line." In 2018, at the China Enterprise Leaders Annual Meeting, Zong Qinghou was asked about his retirement plans. At that time, he responded: "I think I cannot retire. If I retire, life would be meaningless. I am used to working, but now I have stepped back to the second line. As for succession, it depends on whether my daughter is willing. It may not necessarily be my daughter; it could also be management succession. So I am already preparing for management succession."
One of the so-called "bases" for external rumors that Zong Qinghou has re-mentioned retirement is reports that there have been recent changes in the senior management of Wahaha Group. Zhang Honghui, who had followed Zong Qinghou for over 20 years, stepped down as general manager, and Cai Lei took over as manager. Huang Minzhen withdrew from the board of directors. As a supplement, Cai Lei joined the senior management team as manager, and Jiang Lijie became a director. Currently, the company's five main management members are Chairman Zong Qinghou, Directors Jiang Lijie and Wu Jianlin, Supervisor Guo Hong, and Manager Cai Lei.
Regarding this personnel change, Wahaha responded to reporters: "The so-called senior management team change is actually just a change in members of a few subsidiaries under the group, caused by normal personnel changes due to retirement of old employees. Reports interpreting it as a senior management adjustment at the group level are misinterpretations."
As a benchmark enterprise in China's beverage industry, the issue of Wahaha's successor has always been a focus of media attention, with the spotlight mainly on Zong Qinghou's daughter, Zong Fuli.
However, Zong Qinghou admitted personally that the successor is not Zong Fuli. Zong Qinghou said, "Let her develop freely; let her do whatever she wants."
It is understood that Zong Qinghou's daughter, Zong Fuli, currently heads the Brand Public Relations Department within Wahaha Group.
Born on January 15, 1982, Zong Fuli is the daughter of Zong Qinghou, founder of Wahaha Group. In the 2017 Hurun Rich List, the Zong Qinghou family ranked 12th with wealth of 100 billion RMB. As the only daughter of Zong Qinghou, Zong Fuli ranked 13th in Forbes' 2017 China's Most Outstanding Business Women list. Additionally, in a list released by global wealth company Wealth-X in 2015, Zong Fuli ranked third among Asia's top ten young billionaires with $3 billion.
Like most second-generation rich, Zong Fuli was sent abroad for Western education at a young age. After graduating from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles with a degree in International Business in 2004, she returned to China and entered Wahaha Group for direct management. In 2005, she served as deputy director of the management committee of Wahaha Xiaoshan Base No. 2, and four months later became general manager of Wahaha Children's Clothing and Kaqianna Daily Chemical Products Co., Ltd.
In 2007, Zong Qinghou split off Hongsheng Beverage Company, which mainly engaged in food and beverage production and processing, to be independently operated by his daughter Zong Fuli, gradually giving her independent authority. From then on, Zong Fuli truly began her path as a second-generation entrepreneur. Currently, Zong Fuli has become president of Hongsheng Beverage Group, which undertakes one-third of Wahaha's product processing business, and also serves as general manager of Wahaha Import and Export Company.
However, **the divergence in business philosophy between Zong Fuli, who studied abroad for eight years, and her father, Zong Qinghou, an old-generation private entrepreneur, has always been a problem between father and daughter.** Eager to prove her strength, Zong Fuli has always placed great emphasis on shaping her personal brand, hoping to break free from her identity as "Zong Qinghou's daughter."
In 2007 and 2012, Hongsheng Beverage Group successively established the Fuli Charity Fund and the Zhejiang University Fuli Food Research Institute. In July 2016, Zong Fuli launched a fruit and vegetable juice beverage product named "Kellyone" after her English name "Kelly." The launch of this high-end private custom beverage demonstrated Zong Fuli's business style, which is vastly different from her father Zong Qinghou's. Compared to Wahaha's "people-friendly beverage" route, Kellyone follows a high-end, trendy, and Internet+ route. Zong Fuli said she invested several million RMB in the entire plan, even building a 400-square-meter central kitchen. However, to date, Hongsheng has not publicly disclosed Kellyone's sales volume, and the results of the trial remain unknown.
**Zong Fuli is also seeking opportunities in the capital market.** In May 2017, Hong Kong-listed company China Candy announced that Zong Fuli planned to spend HK$573 million to acquire the listed company China Candy. Subsequently, China Candy's stock price soared. However, three months later, the acquisition offer lapsed, and the stock price fell sharply. Zong Fuli's first battle in the capital market ultimately ended in failure, making her the "Wahaha princess who failed to eat candy."
At just 36 years old, Zong Fuli has been working hard in her career for 14 years, but her experience in romance is still zero. Zong Fuli's explanation for this is that "the family is too rich; it seems everyone who approaches her wants to talk 'business' with her." As a father, Zong Qinghou is very anxious about the marriage of his only daughter, even publicly seeking a spouse for her in the media, which made Zong Fuli the focus of public attention again. The media called her someone even Wang Sicong would not dare to flirt with.
Born in 1945, Zong Qinghou is now 74 years old. However, on November 18, 2017, at the 30th anniversary of Wahaha Group, Zong Qinghou stated that "the succession of private enterprises is not necessarily by children; it could also be by management." And to this day, Zong Qinghou's words "let her develop freely" seem to indicate that Zong Fuli, widely recognized as the "successor" of Wahaha, may not be able to take over Wahaha Group.
Source: Comprehensive from The Paper, AI Finance and Economics, etc.
Compiled by: FMCG Elite Club
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