After the death of Wahaha Group founder Zong Qinghou last year, Zong Fuli, who was previously believed to be the “only daughter”, was involved in a dispute over management rights. Recently, it was revealed that her three half-siblings filed a lawsuit in Hong Kong to fight for the inheritance. The three illegitimate children’s American citizenship also caused controversy in the mainland.
“Hong Kong 01” found that Zong Fuli, the first wife’s daughter, had registered and signed documents with a US passport and a mainland Chinese passport to purchase a Hong Kong residence. Zong Qinghou’s widow, Zong Fuli’s mother Shi Youzhen, holds a luxury residential unit on Barker Road in the name of the company, with a market value of about HK$200 million.
Zong Fuli used her US passport to register to buy a house and switched to a Chinese passport one month later
Wahaha has not been listed in Hong Kong, but has always established affiliated companies in Hong Kong. “Hong Kong 01” found that Zong Fuli, who was previously believed to be Zong Qinghou’s “only daughter”, had purchased a unit at 2 Park Road, Mid-Levels in 2009 for HK$11.1 million.
According to records, Zong Fuli signed an agreement with her US passport in June 2009. Her full name at the time was “Kelly Fuli Zong”. One month later, in July 2009, she signed an assignment with her mainland Chinese passport. Her full name was changed to “Zong Fuli” and she was also known as “Kelly Fuli Zong”.
Public documents do not explain why Zong Fuli registered with different passports. According to the Chinese Nationality Law, China does not recognize dual nationality, but if there are legitimate reasons, one can apply to restore Chinese nationality.
Zong Qinghou holds a US green card and serves as a NPC deputy. He was once involved in a nationality controversy
According to reports, in 2008 and 2009, Wahaha Zong Qinghou and his family were involved in a nationality controversy. Mainland media reported that Zong Qinghou has held a US green card since 1999, but served as a NPC deputy from 2002 to 2018.
He responded in 2013 that “the whole family has not obtained foreign nationality, nor does it have a foreign green card, and currently has no immigration plan; and the original US green card has been cancelled.”
The first wife of the Peak mansion, Shi Youzhen, holds the company as director
The unit on Park Road in Mid-Levels was sold in 2018 for HK$26 million, and Zong Fuli registered with her Hong Kong identity card.
Zong Fuli’s current registered address in Hong Kong is a low-rise unit with a usable area of about 4,000 square feet at 27 Barker Road, The Peak, with an estimated market value of more than HK$200 million.
According to information, the unit is held by the Hong Kong registered company “Sealine Holdings Limited”. “Sealine” was originally controlled by a foreign horse owner since 2008, and Shi Youzhen has been the sole director since 2017, reflecting that Shi or related persons purchased the mansion through a trading company, and the outside world was unable to know the transaction price at the time. According to records, Shi Youzhen did not mortgage the house after purchasing it.
Inheritance dispute
Wahaha’s equity is complicated, with Hangzhou State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and Zong Qinghou holding shares. Zong Qinghou died at the age of 79 in February last year, and a dispute over management rights broke out immediately. Zong Fuli, born in 1982, was previously believed to be the only descendant until the inheritance dispute was exposed in Hong Kong recently.
The lawsuit first exposed that Zong Qinghou had three illegitimate children. The petition stated that the plaintiffs were Jacky Zong, Jessie Jieli Zong, and Jerry Jisheng Zong, and the defendants were Kelly Fuli Zong, the daughter of Zong Qinghou and his first wife Shi Youzhen, and “Jian Hao Ventures Limited”, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
The plaintiff filed a lawsuit in the Hong Kong High Court in December 2024, requesting the freezing of the HSBC bank account of the appellant BVI company. The plaintiff also filed a lawsuit in the court of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, claiming that his father promised to give the three plaintiffs a trust worth US$700 million each, totaling US$2.1 billion (equivalent to HK$16.38 billion).
The Hong Kong District Court opened the trial on July 11. According to Bloomberg, Judge Lin Zhancheng expressed concern that his order might interfere with the case in the Hangzhou court, adding that he would make a ruling in about two months.
Earn “patriotic” traffic to support Wahaha and attack Nongfu Spring
The lawsuit is not over yet, and there is another nationality dispute. Previously, Wahaha has been shaping a “national enterprise” and last year it launched a public opinion war with its competitor Nongfu Spring. Nongfu Spring was criticized for “pro-Japanese” because of its tea beverage packaging, and the founder Zhong Shanshan’s son Zhong Shuzi was further criticized for being accused of having American nationality.
Zhong Shuzi, born in 1988, went to the United States to study at the age of 8 and is currently a non-executive director of Nongfu Spring. Last year, Zhong Shanshan stated that his 36-year-old son had the right to choose his nationality. Zhong Shanshan’s mother died in March last year, suspected of being affected by cyber violence.
The second generation of Wahaha, Zong Fuli, who was born in 1982, also studied in the United States in middle school and university. However, at that time, some netizens in the mainland who were trying to gain traffic in the name of patriotism pointed out that Zong Fuli did not have American citizenship, so they “praised Wahaha and criticized Nongfu Spring.” Zong Qinghou’s lawsuit over his inheritance revealed that his three children had American citizenship, which also made mainland netizens say that they “followed the wrong trend” that day.
Hong Kong Court Case Number: HCMP 2772/2024
