The founder of Wahaha is Zong Qinghou. He was born on October 12, 1945 in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, and his ancestral home is Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
In 1987, Zong Qinghou relied on a borrowed 140,000 yuan to contract the distribution department of Hangzhou and Shanghai school-run enterprises, and entered the market through the addition of ** service liquid. In 1991, Zong Qinghou acquired the old state-owned Hangzhou Canned Food Factory and formally established Wahaha Food Group Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the production and sales of beverages. Jong Kyung-hou implemented a multi-brand strategy targeting children and continued to launch new beverages. Later, it formed a joint venture with Danone of France, expanding from the field of children's products to the field of first-class products, and successively launched products such as Nutrition Express and Shuang Crooked. In 2007, Danone wanted to "forcibly merge" Wahaha, and finally Zong Qinghou paid 300 million euros to acquire the remaining shares of Danone, regaining full control of Wahaha.
In 2010, Zong Qinghou topped the Hurun Global 100 Rich List in mainland China. In 2018, he was awarded the "Top 100 Outstanding Private Entrepreneurs in the 40 Years of Reform and Opening-up" by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. In 2022, Zong Qinghou won the 7th "Zhejiang Charity Award" issued by Zhejiang Province. In March 2023, the "2023 Hurun Global Rich List" was announced, and Zong Qinghou ranked 121st with a wealth of 100 billion yuan. On February 25, 2024, Zong Qinghou passed away at the age of 79 due to ineffective medical treatment.