Zhong Shanshan is the founder and chairperson of the Nongfu Spring beverage company and the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise.
12 Facts About Zhong Shanshan
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Zhong Shanshan dropped out of primary school during the Cultural Revolution and found work in construction.
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In 1988, Zhong Shanshan moved to Hainan, an island off the coast of southern China.
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Zhong Shanshan sold mushrooms, prawns, and turtles during his time on the island.
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Zhong Shanshan then went on to work at the Wahaha beverage company as a sales agent, and sold healthcare supplements.
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In 1996, Zhong Shanshan founded a bottled water company in Hangzhou, which later became Nongfu Spring.
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Zhong Shanshan beat out behemoths in the industry such as Coca-Cola, Watsons, and Pepsi to become the best-selling package beverage brand.
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Zhong Shanshan took advantage of new technologies such as cloud computing and big data in order to gain a key advantage in understanding Nongfu Spring's customer base.
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Zhong Shanshan's rise came alongside a wave of wealth in China, where over 100 billionaires were minted in 2020, adding 0.5 trillion dollars to their wealth, collectively.
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In 2024, Chinese nationalists unleashed a wave of online attacks targeting Zhong Shanshan, accusing him of being insufficiently loyal to China because he allegedly showed a lack of respect to a deceased business rival known for his patriotism, and because his son holds a US passport.
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Zhong Shanshan purchased an apartment in Xihu District, Hangzhou, where he primarily resides.
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Zhong Shanshan is married to Lu Xiaoping, and they have three children together.