Zong Qinghou: Wahaha is my whole life, and it is proof that I have existed in this world
CCTV Finance and Economics "Economic Information Network") "I founded a Wahaha in my life, and I hope that Wahaha will always maintain steady and healthy growth. Wahaha is my whole life, all my dreams and all my meaning. It's proof that I've existed in this world. At the beginning of last year, Zong Qinghou expressed this emotionally at the recording site of the "Dialogue" program of the financial channel.
On February 25, Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group, passed away in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province at the age of 79 due to ineffective treatment of advanced lung cancer. Born in 1945, Zong Qinghou is one of the representative figures of the first generation of private entrepreneurs, he led "Wahaha" from a small factory to a giant in the beverage industry, and in his 37-year entrepreneurial career, he has completed one leap after another.
Zong Qinghou: Start a business from scratch and build a leading domestic beverage enterprise.
Zong Qinghou's life can be described as legendary, on October 12, 1945, Zong Qinghou was born in Suqian, Jiangsu, moved to Hangzhou with his family when he was a child, and after graduating from junior high school, he began to work around. At the age of 33, after 15 years of polishing in rural Zhejiang, Zong Qinghou returned to Hangzhou to take over his mother's work in the school's factory. At the beginning of the reform and opening up, he worked as a salesman for 8 years, and Zong Qinghou was favored by the leaders and gave him the opportunity to independently operate the distribution department of the school-run enterprise.
Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group: Reform and opening up has given me an opportunity. It turned out that I was an ordinary school-run factory worker, and the opportunity of the contract responsibility system gave me a platform to start a business.
In 1987, Zong Qinghou borrowed 140,000 yuan to take over the distribution department of the school-run enterprise in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, which had been losing money for many years, and started by selling sodas, popsicles, and stationery to make money. As long as he receives the school's **, whether it is windy or rainy or scorching sun, 42-year-old Zong Qinghou will immediately pedal on a tricycle to send the products to the school.
In July of the same year, Zong Qinghou prepared to build Hangzhou Baoling Children's Nutrition Food Factory. In 1988, Wahaha developed the first nutritional product for children, and the advertisement of "Drinking Wahaha, Eating is Fragrant" spread all over the country.
In 1991, with the support of Hangzhou City, Zong Qinghou merged Hangzhou Canned Food Factory, which has more than 2,000 employees and has become insolvent, one of the backbone enterprises of canned food production in China, with 80 million yuan, and established Hangzhou Wahaha Group Company. Three months later, Wahaha took advantage of its product and market advantages to quickly revitalize the stock assets of the cannery and turn losses into profits. In the history of China's reform and opening up, it has also left an important mark.
Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group: They seem to be a big burden to outsiders, but in fact, I turned a loss into a profit in three months, and it should be said that we are indeed a key step from small to large in the concept of merger.
In 1996, Zong Qinghou boldly transformed and switched to bottled pure water. For more than 30 years, under the leadership of Zong Qinghou, Wahaha has gradually grown into a leading food and beverage enterprise integrating pure water, beverages, medicine and health food. According to the information on Wahaha's official website, in the past 35 years, Wahaha's sales have reached 860.1 billion yuan, profits and taxes of 174 billion yuan, and taxes of 74.2 billion yuan. AD calcium milk, nutrition express, eight-treasure porridge and other products have also become the memory of a generation.
Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group: It should be said that I have indeed caught up with a good era, and the country encourages the development of private enterprises so much, and we should be grateful to the party. We must continue to work hard, strive to be a century-old store, and make more contributions to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Zong Qinghou: The most diligent employee and the eternal struggler.
In the face of fierce market competition, Zong Qinghou has never stopped innovating. In recent years, he has not only opened a shopping mall and sold milk powder, but also began to plan a "second venture" when he was over seventy, established a mechanical and electrical research institute, and explored the field of intelligent equipment.
Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group: I'm still running around at such an old age, and I might be too bored to really stop and do nothing. For "Wahaha", it also needs to pursue excellence and adhere to the century-old store. Now it is high-quality and high-efficiency development, and we are also following the entire direction of the country and pursuing the direction of our own business.
At the end of 2023, Zong Qinghou wrote in an open letter to Wahaha employees: "Although the road is far, the line is coming; It's hard, but it's done. This open letter of encouragement to you also became a farewell letter to his life. A generation of legends will eventually come to an end. But his story, the spirit of non-stop struggle of private entrepreneurship, will inspire more people to chase their dreams and create the future.
Zong Lao, his life lives up to the time, and the rest can sleep peacefully.
*Please specify CCTV Finance.
Editor: Wang Yifan.