Zong Qinghou

Zong Qinghou (; born 1945) is a Chinese entrepreneur, founder, Chairman and CEO of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group, the leading beverage company in China. Ranked China’s richest man and 23rd in the world, He eventually returned to Hangzhou, and only found menial work at a local school due to the low level of his education. In 1987, he targeted a minigrocery in a school in Shangcheng District-->. Zong headed the embryonic Wahaha business, which distributed fizzy soft drinks, ice and stationery.

The WHH joint venture entered into with Groupe Danone involved the inward investment of US$70 million in five joint venture companies Collaboration has grown into 39 joint venture entities by 2007.

Personal
Zong has served as a delegate to the Chinese National People's Congress since 2002. He was re-elected in 2007.

He is married to Shi Youzhen (施幼珍), with whom he has one daughter Kelly Zong (宗馥莉). Shi is the Purchasing Manager at Wahaha. Zong formerly held permanent resident status in the United States, which he obtained in order to make it easier for him to travel to the country and look after his investments there. His daughter attended Pepperdine University in Southern California and naturalized as a U.S. citizen, but later moved back to China and in 2007 began the procedure to renounce her U.S. citizenship. Zong gained wide support as he played the role of 'David' against a French 'Goliath' gobbling up Chinese companies. However, with the revelation of his green card in 2008, public perceptions changed and his reputation sufered. In 2013, he stated that because he did not re-enter the U.S. for several years, his status was thus deemed abandoned.

Caijing reported in April 2008 that Zong was being investigated for allegedly evading taxes amounting to some ¥ 300 million. An investigator had alleged that Zong '...earned far more than this and hasn't fully reported the tax for years'. Caijing implied there may have been less than transparent payments through web of Hong Kong-registered accounts of Zong, Shi, daughter Fuli; and the former Party secretary of Wahaha, Du Jianying. Zong had apparently paid more than 200 million yuan in back taxes in October 2007, after the investigation kicked off. However, the magazine suspected Zong still owed millions more.

Honorary Titles

List of titles:

• National Excellent Entrepreneur
• National Excellent Manager
• Model of Patriotism to Support the Armed Forces
• Outstanding Builder of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
• The First Chinese Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Prize