At 10:30 a.m. on February 25, Zong Qinghou, the founder of Wahaha, a representative of private enterprises, died of illness at the age of 79. The 42-year-old entrepreneur and three-time richest man in China's business legend has turned Wahaha into a household name beverage group.
After Zong Qinghou left, the power of Wahaha's 100 billion empire changed, as Zong Qinghou's only daughter, the "second-in-command" Zong Fuli walked into the spotlight again, where will this female helmsman lead Wahaha?
Zong Fuli was born in 1982, Fuli is homophonic with the word "welfare", and the Zong family and his wife pinned their simple hopes on this little daughter, hoping that she would be blessed and beneficial. As a top rich second generation, Zong Fuli is neither as flamboyant as Wang Sicong, nor as favored by Yao Anna. At the age of 14, he went to study in the United States alone, and after Zong Qinghou and his wife started their business, they lived in the company almost every day, and their daughter has been taken care of. In 2004, she returned to China after completing her studies in the United States, majoring in international business.
In life, the outside world often labels her as "older unmarried", she claims to be a Capricorn, more pragmatic, "If you meet it, you will meet it, and if you don't meet it, forget it, just follow it." There are also reports that Zong Qinghou publicly asked her to marry, but unfortunately she still didn't wait for the day when her daughter got married.
In terms of career, Zong Fuli, who is 5 years different from Wahaha, as a ** person, almost overlaps with the development of Wahaha Group.
Since 2004, she has entered the food and beverage industry, starting from the front-line workshop, and in 2007, she single-handedly founded Hongsheng Beverage Group, from acquiring land, purchasing equipment, to building a team and building a factory. Because of Zong Qinghou's words and deeds, employees said that Zong Fuli was the company's "second hardest-working" person, the first to arrive at the company every day and the last to leave.
For me, I don't want to be a successor. Why do you have to inherit it? I don't want to inherit a company, but I can go and own it. If I succeed, I hope to be able to acquire Wahaha. That's a possession, not an inheritance, right? In 2016, Zong Fuli boldly abandoned Wahaha's traditional people-friendly route and launched a high-end customized fruit and vegetable juice drink, named after her English name: kellyone. In 2018, Zong Fuli volunteered to become the public relations minister of Wahaha Group, and started a drastic change to Wahaha as soon as she took office.
The first fire burned after taking office was to replace the spokesperson Wang Leehom who had been in office for 20 years, and it was the post-90s actor Xu Guanghan who was welcomed into the door. ”。
This statement triggered countless netizens' criticism at the time. However, with the appearance of "Hammer of the Thunder God", Wang Leehom was completely cool, and netizens sent Zong Fuli to the hot search: The eldest lady still has a vision! 
At the end of 2021, Zong Fuli made greater moves in products and marketing, and the brand broke the circle to move closer to youth, trying to break the "old three" big single products, and launched cross-border and new products many times. In 2022, Wahaha's performance will turn red, with revenue of 51.2 billion, about 10 billion higher than in previous years.
The third fire is to seek opportunities in the capital market. In 2017, the 35-year-old made a bid to buy China Confectionery, which ultimately failed, but also provided valuable experience for the company's future layout. Zong Fuli admits that the only way to ensure the longevity of Wahaha's foundation is to go public, which is different from Zong Qinghou's resolute notion of not going public.
Zong Fuli has been ranked 20th in the Forbes China 100 Outstanding Business Women; In 2023, Zong Fuli ranked 13th on the Hurun Women Entrepreneurs List with a wealth of 32 billion yuan, and on Chinese New Year's Eve of the Lunar New Year in 2024, Zong Fuli distributed big red packets as the host at Wahaha, which once attracted attention.
It is easy to fight the country, but it is difficult to defend the country. Now Zong Fuli has taken over the inheritance and has become a Chinese richest woman with a net worth of 60 billion.
Her dream has never changed, and she is still an independent and self-reliant female leader who is "proud of herself". And without her father's protection, she will continue to show a more decisive side.
People are gradually seeing that Wahaha, which is moving towards a younger age, and the era of Zong Fuli has arrived.