Recent days have seen the collapse of the established image of “one wife, one daughter, one pair of cloth shoes, and no intentions of immigration” for the late Chinese former richest man and founder of Wahaha, Zong Qinghou. According to Hong Kong media citing informed sources, apart from Zong Fuli, Zong Qinghou has six other children, including one daughter born with a former employee in the early years, three children born with Wahaha veteran Du Jianying, one child born with a staff member in 2017, and one undisclosed child.
On July 16, Phoenix Net’s “Storm Eye” reported that Liu Yang, who had dealings with the Zong family for many years, stated that in 2018, a family chronicle was compiled for Zong Qinghou’s late father, clearly indicating that apart from Zong Fuli, Zong Qinghou had six children.
Zong Qinghou and Wahaha veteran Du Jianying have three children together: Jacky Zong (born in 1996), Jessie Zong (born in 1998), and Jerry Zong. There have been online rumors that the birth year of “Jerry Zong,” born in 2017, is uncertain.
Du Jianying, born in 1966 in Hangzhou, is 21 years younger than Zong Qinghou. He graduated from Zhejiang University with a major in Optical Instrument Engineering and has held various positions within the Wahaha Group, including Party Secretary, Head of Import and Export Business, and Director of the General Manager’s Office. He is a member of the core management team of Wahaha.
Liu Yang mentioned that the child born in 2017, as circulated on the internet, is the offspring of another young employee. A former Wahaha employee informed Phoenix Net that around 2017, the child’s mother had caused disturbances at the gate of Wahaha’s headquarters on Qingtai Street multiple times due to dissatisfaction with the “child support” provided by Zong Qinghou. At that time, the company even sent out emails to instruct employees to avoid contact with her.
A source close to the Zong family, Zhang Yong, mentioned that prior to Du Jianying, another employee had a daughter with Zong Qinghou. Following Du Jianying’s rise to power, this mother and daughter duo later settled in the United States.
There is still one child of Zong Qinghou who has not been revealed to the public.
Zhang Yong also revealed that Zong Qinghou divorced Zong Fuli’s mother, Shi Youzhen, around 2000. This fact was little known until around 2005 when Zong Qinghou registered his marriage with Du Jianying. However, the two later divorced as well. The exact time of their divorce is now unclear. The divorce and Zong Fuli’s (referring to Zong Fuli) entry into the group were related to the exclusion of Du Jianying.
Court documents from a Hong Kong court in December last year showed that Zong Jichang, Zong Jieli, and Zong Jisheng (all U.S. citizens) had filed lawsuits in Hong Kong and Hangzhou due to asset disputes, seeking to obtain a total of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in trust funds promised by their father during his lifetime and to inherit Zong Fuli’s 29.4% stake in the Wahaha Group.
In addition to the aforementioned private children of Zong Qinghou holding U.S. passports, it was revealed that Zong Fuli had used a U.S. passport to purchase property in Hong Kong.
On July 15, “Hong Kong 01” reported that Zong Fuli had purchased a unit at No. 2 Bisney Road in 2009 for HK$11.1 million. According to records, in June 2009, Zong Fuli signed the sales contract with a U.S. passport under the full name “Kelly Fuli Zong”. A month later, she signed the transfer contract with a Chinese passport, changing her full name to “Zong Fuli” and stating the alias “Kelly Fuli Zong”.
During the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in March 2013, Zong Qinghou, a former National People’s Congress representative and chairman of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group, officially announced at a press conference that he and his family had all cancelled their U.S. green cards and had no plans to immigrate in the future.
Thus, netizens are pointing out that the established image of Zong Qinghou as “one wife, one daughter, one pair of cloth shoes” and “having cancelled all U.S. green cards with family, no plans to immigrate in the future” has collapsed.
Zong Qinghou, the founder of the Wahaha Group, served as the group’s chairman since 1991 until his passing in February 2024. He was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and served as a delegate to the 10th, 11th, and 12th National People’s Congress. He topped the Hurun Rich List in China in 2010, 2012, and 2013, ranking fifth on the list in 2016 with a fortune of 112 billion yuan.
Currently, the largest shareholder of Wahaha Group in Hangzhou is the Upper City District Wenshan Travel Investment Holding Group, holding 46% of the shares. Zong Fuli holds 29.4% of the shares, making her the largest individual shareholder, while the employee holding platform “Hangzhou Wahaha Group United Trade Union Committee” holds 24.6% of the shares.
Established on August 26, 2008, the Upper City District Investment Holding Group Limited Company in Hangzhou is a wholly state-owned enterprise controlled by the Upper City District Finance Bureau.