Wahaha Group Chairman, General Manager and legal representative, Xu Simin, has been exposed to resign, coming less than a year after taking over the important position from Zong Fuli. The company has not issued an official announcement, and the reasons for resignation and the succession arrangement are unclear, making it difficult for outsiders to judge whether the governance of this Chinese beverage giant has stabilized.
On the evening of October 22nd, “The Paper” quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying that Xu Simin, the legal representative, chairman, and general manager of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd., has resigned. The successor has only been discussed internally and has not been finalized. There has been no official announcement from Wahaha, and Xu Simin himself has not responded to The Paper’s request for confirmation.
On the same day, “Finance” learned from multiple independent sources that Xu Simin “has recently resigned,” but did not specify the exact date, reasons, or procedures. Currently, the most direct evidence comes from a labor dispute lawsuit.
A former employee of Wahaha Group involved in a lawsuit told “The Paper” that the court was informed of Xu Simin’s resignation when verifying the date of the court session, and the case scheduled for next month may be rescheduled as a result. While this explanation can account for the source of the information, it is still not an official confirmation from the company or judicial authorities.
Information from Tianyancha shows that on November 27, 2025, Wahaha Group underwent a business change, with Xu Simin replacing Zong Fuli as the legal representative. Xu Simin then served as chairman and general manager, with the time span from official registration to exposure of resignation being less than a year.
Multiple media outlets have not provided verifiable reasons for the resignation. Sina Finance quoted sources close to Wahaha as saying that Xu Simin may be reluctant to assume greater risks in the position of legal representative due to concerns about the “Food Entrust Production Supervision and Management Measures” set to be implemented in December 2026.
Sohu Finance cited industry insiders saying that the new regulation requires brand owners to bear joint responsibility for food safety at contract manufacturing plants; the report also mentioned a vague contract manufacturing relationship between Wahaha and Hongsheng Group as posing increased legal risks for the legal representative. These assessments are speculative opinions from the media or industry insiders, and have not been confirmed by Wahaha.
Xu Simin’s background has also attracted public attention to her role. “Jinrongjie” reported that she was born in 1994, graduated in law from Zhejiang University, founded the Chinese-Western fast food brand “Yuan Niu Dao” in 2015 and served as its legal representative; after a setback in entrepreneurship, she entered the legal department of Hongsheng Group controlled by Zong Fuli and handled cases such as trademark disputes between Wahaha and Danone. It is mentioned that Xu Simin is “the most trusted person of Zong Fuli” and entered the power core after Zong Fuli took over.
Several reports have pointed out that Wahaha and the associated Hongsheng system have seen several high-level departures this year. Sohu Finance said that Ye Yaqiong, Director of the President’s Office, Wu Tingyan, Sales General Manager, and Zhou Zhuoying, Director of the Legal Department of Hongsheng Group, all resigned in the same period in May; the report listed this along with pending trademark licensing and fluctuating confidence of distributors as uncertain factors facing the company.
Sohu Finance cited industry analysis stating that Wahaha is jointly held by Hangzhou State-Owned Investment Holdings Group (46%), the Zong family (29.40%), and the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (24.6%). In a situation where state capital, family influence, and employee stock ownership coexist, professional managers lacking strong equity background support may find it difficult to implement substantive strategic reforms and may become transitional figures in factional struggles.