Nongfu incident reflects the nature of governance in China

The Nongfu [Farmer's Mountain] Spring Water incident, apart from illustrating that the Chinese Communist Party does not trust private enterprises, also reflects that the authorities are still accustomed to inciting populism to achieve their own objectives.

- WANG DAN

On 25 February 2024, Zong Qinghou, founder of Wahaha Group and a well-known Chinese entrepreneur, died at the age of 79. Unexpectedly, the tribute to Zong Qinghou gradually turned into a public opinion dispute between the two beverage giants, Wahaha and Nongfu [Farmer’s Mountain] Spring Water. Nongfu [Farmer’s Mountain] Spring Water’s founder, Zhong Shanshan, became the target of many netizens’ criticisms. At first, some netizens wrote that Zhong Shanshan had failed in starting his own business, and Zong Qinghou had taken him under his wing. Zhong used Wahaha’s corporate resources to make his first bucket of gold, and then founded Nongfu [Farmer’s Mountain] Spring Water to compete with Wahaha, which is simply ungrateful. Nongfu [Farmer’s Mountain] Spring Water later issued a clarification, but it was unable to quell the public opinion, which led to a short-term plunge in its sales volume and share price. Afterwards, the public opinion storm intensified, rising to nationalistic criticism, accusing Nongfu [Farmer’s Mountain] Spring Water products of pandering to the Japanese, that Zhong Shanshan’s son is an American national, etc., and calls for boycotts were heard in waves. How did all this public opinion surrounding Nongfu [Farmer’s Mountain] Spring Water come about? What is reflected behind the incident? I think there are three main points.