Zong Qinghou: China's reform, opening-up sets stage for Wahaha

"The success of Hangzhou Wahaha Group would not have happened without China's reform and opening up policies which provided me with startup opportunities,"  said Zong Qinghou, founder and chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group, the leading beverage company in China.

From a sales department of a school-run business in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province to China's beverage giant, the company did not achieve success overnight.

In 1987, the Hangzhou Shangcheng District School-Run Enterprise Sales Department, predecessor of Wahaha, was founded by the 42-year-old Zong as a tide of reform and opening up swept China.

Two years later, Wahaha Nutritional Food Factory was founded to produce "Wahaha Oral Liquid for Children", a type of natural beverage product with medicinal properties.

The company's success in selling nutrition products in school shops led to its first big expansion with Hangzhou government support. The company acquired a large, 30-year-old State-owned enterprise, the Hangzhou Canned Food Product Co in 1991 before changing its name to the Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co.

Ever since then, Wahaha has been on a path to success by leveraging its product, capital and market advantages.

"I'm just an ordinary person, but luckily enough, I live in a good time," Zong said, adding that the government-supported business merge marked a historic breakthrough for Wahaha, which grew from nothing to a scale business.

"Running a business is most difficult at its initial stage. But we had nothing except enthusiasm," he said, "Zhejiang people are bestowed with wisdom and a pioneering spirit.”

Talking about Wahaha's secrets of success, Zong noted that China's reform and opening up policies and an entrepreneurial and innovation spirit matter the most.

While the company focuses on beverage and food industries, it also pays great attention to introducing high-caliber talents and advanced technologies.

In 2016, the group acquired over 1,000 robot technologies through partnering with Israel.

After 30 years of development, Wahaha now has over 80 production bases and 180 subsidiaries in 29 provinces throughout China with total assets amounting to over 460 billion yuan ($66.15 billion).