【Epoch Times January 27, 2026】Mr. Zhang, the legal representative of a technology company in Shanxi, was suddenly attacked by Rong Jianfeng, the chairman of the state-owned Taiyuan Distillery, and his men over a month ago, which caused a widespread concern. More details of the incident have now been revealed.
According to a report by Phoenix Net’s “Storm Eye” on January 26, Mr. Zhang has been having frequent nightmares lately – being swarmed by a group of people and viciously beaten.
In 2022, Mr. Zhang noticed that a certain liquor from the Taiyuan Distillery was selling well locally, so he proactively reached out to the distillery for cooperation.
In June 2025, Rong Jianfeng, the legal representative and chairman of Taiyuan Distillery, unilaterally terminated the cooperation with Mr. Zhang. No explanation, no negotiation, just bluntly stating: “You can’t do it anymore.”
Mr. Zhang said that at that time, he was shocked and aggrieved, his mind went blank instantly. After cooperating for so long and handling the business without any flaws, being abruptly cut off without warning or negotiation was unacceptable for anyone. However, the other party was unusually firm in their attitude with no room for discussion. “I had to prioritize settling the payment and the goods issues to minimize the losses. But he disagreed and forcibly produced stagnant goods worth 1.5 million yuan to give to me.”
The original cooperation came to an abrupt halt. The other party owed Mr. Zhang a total of around 3.2 million, with 800,000 being the outstanding payment for the goods not yet delivered. This became the focal point of the dispute between the two parties.
Mr. Zhang said that he demanded the payment from Rong Jianfeng at least five times, and each time he used excuses like “difficulties in business operation” and “tight cash flow.” He would promise to settle by December 2025 and then postpone it to January 2026. As the Chinese New Year approached, he claimed he couldn’t pay, just dragging the issue without any substantial solutions.
On December 20, 2025, Mr. Zhang went to the distillery specifically to demand this payment. “I clearly told him, ‘The money you promised me should have been settled, if you keep delaying payment, I will report the issue to the higher authorities.'”
“On the 21st, he sent me several threatening voice messages and insulted me. He even had his employees call me continuously, harassing me. Hearing his voice messages, I could tell he was drunk, so I didn’t want to bother dealing with a drunken person.”
“He came with over a dozen people and tried to forcefully enter my company. Since the employees were on holiday and the store was locked, I didn’t dare go inside, afraid that they would ransack it once inside. With so many people on their side, I couldn’t stop them alone. One of them arrogantly shouted, ‘If we smash things, you’ll have to pay for it.’ I was scared and angry, feeling helpless. But the neighboring shop owner told me that it would be bad if things escalated. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and try to talk things out with him. But within five seconds of meeting, he attacked me directly.”
“He knocked me to the ground, and everything felt blurry and chaotic. I heard the sounds of things crashing on my body, clearly feeling that it wasn’t just him attacking, the frequency of the beating indicated multiple people participating. The whole ordeal lasted about three minutes.”
After being attacked, Mr. Zhang immediately reported to the police. Rong Jianfeng and nine others were taken away by the police. At the police station, all nine people gave false testimonies, insisting that Rong Jianfeng didn’t participate.
Mr. Zhang said that the hospital diagnosed him with multiple soft tissue injuries all over his body, and he was hospitalized for over half a month. “My body still hasn’t fully recovered, I frequently get headaches, and I have nightmares at night, dreaming about explosions when opening car doors or him coming to retaliate against me. The mental stress is huge, and during this time, my hair has turned completely grey.”
Mr. Zhang said that in the end, Rong Jianfeng paid him the 800,000 owed to pacify part of the conflict. However, he hopes for a reinvestigation to hold all those involved accountable.
The report stated that attempts to contact Rong Jianfeng for comment were unsuccessful. Subsequent text messages went unanswered at the time of writing.
On January 27, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Taiyuan issued a notice stating that, after preliminary investigation, Rong Jianfeng did engage in conflict with others due to disputes over enterprise payments, involving physical assault. The responsible person of the enterprise, Rong Jianfeng, has been suspended from duties.
According to the official website of Taiyuan Distillery, established in 1950, it is the only state-owned enterprise in Taiyuan city specializing in the production of traditional Chinese liquor, with a production capacity of tens of thousands of tons. Its annual tax profit exceeds tens of millions of yuan, and its annual sales revenue has surpassed one billion yuan.