Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 21–50, 20 Oct 2026), all claims sourced

2026-10-20T17:37:06Z

New profile (Forbes real-time rank 21–50, 20 Oct 2026), all claims sourced

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{{short description|'''Chinese businessman; founder and chairman of the bottled-water and beverage company Nongfu Spring'''}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Zhong Shanshan
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|12|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = China
| citizenship = China
| education = Zhejiang Radio and Television University (per TRT World)
| occupation = businessman
| known_for = Founder and chairman of [[Nongfu Spring]]; controlling shareholder of [[Wantai Biological Pharmacy]]
| net_worth = US$61.08 billion (Forbes real-time estimate, 20 October 2026)
}}

'''Zhong Shanshan''' (born 1 December 1954) is a Chinese businessman, the founder and chairman of [[Nongfu Spring]], China's largest bottled-water company, which listed its shares in Hong Kong in 2020. He also controls the diagnostics maker [[Wantai Biological Pharmacy]].<ref name="fp_zhong_shanshan">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/zhong-shanshan.json Forbes profile record for Zhong Shanshan (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/zhong-shanshan/)] ''Forbes'', live record, read 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref><ref name="trt_zhong">Amar Diwakar, [https://www.trtworld.com/article/12754546 Zhong Shanshan: The water tycoon who just became China’s second richest man] ''TRT World'', undated (published after the September 2020 Hong Kong listing), accessed 20 October 2026.</ref> On 20 October 2026 the [[Forbes]] Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Zhong Shanshan 31st in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$61.08 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Beverages, pharmaceuticals.<ref name="fp_zhong_shanshan" /><ref name="ForbesRTB">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/rtb/0/position/true.json Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed] ''Forbes'', live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref> In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Zhong Shanshan 27th, at US$68.1 billion.<ref name="ForbesAnnual">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/billionaires/2026/position/true.json Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read)] ''Forbes'', annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Forbes gives his date of birth as 1 December 1954 and says he was born in [[Hangzhou]]. It reports that he left elementary school during the [[Cultural Revolution]] and later worked as a construction worker, a newspaper reporter and a beverage sales agent before starting his own business.<ref name="fp_zhong_shanshan" /> ''TRT World'' reported that he left school in the fifth grade, when his parents were purged during the Cultural Revolution. As a teenager he was apprenticed to masons and carpenters. At 23 he entered Zhejiang Radio and Television University, and he then spent about five years as a reporter on a local newspaper.<ref name="trt_zhong" />

== Business career ==
According to ''TRT World'', Zhong moved to the southern island province of [[Hainan]] and in the early 1990s tried several ventures, including a newspaper, mushroom farming and bottled-water distribution, before succeeding with health supplements in 1993.<ref name="trt_zhong" /> Nongfu Spring's 2020 listing document says the group dates from September 1996, when Zhong set up its predecessor, Xin'an River Yangshengtang Drinking Water Company, in Zhejiang province. Its first packaged water, "Nongfu Spring", drawn from the Thousand-Island Lake in Zhejiang, was launched in 1997. The company became a joint-stock company in 2001, and in 2015 it launched a natural mineral water sourced from Moya Spring on Changbai Mountain in Jilin.<ref name="hkex_nongfu">Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd., [https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2020/0908/9434071/sehk20042903595.pdf Application Proof – History and Corporate Structure (draft listing document)] ''Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEXnews)'', April 2020, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref>

Nongfu Spring filed its application to list in Hong Kong at the end of April 2020.<ref name="yicai_ipo">Dou Shicong, [https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/chinese-bottled-water-leader-nongfu-spring-bids-for-hong-kong-ipo Nongfu Spring Seeks Hong Kong IPO After Much Speculation] ''Yicai Global'', 30 April 2020, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref> ''TRT World'' reported that on its first trading day, in September 2020, the shares rose by as much as 85% after a US$1.1 billion offering that attracted record retail orders. It said Zhong owned 84% of Nongfu Spring, and that he also held 75% of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, whose shares had risen sharply after its listing in April 2020.<ref name="trt_zhong" /> Forbes says Wantai makes rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases including COVID-19, and that Zhong's son, Zhong Shuzi, is a non-executive director of Nongfu Spring.<ref name="fp_zhong_shanshan" />

== Wealth ==
Forbes attributes his wealth to his holdings in Nongfu Spring and Wantai and gives the source as beverages and pharmaceuticals.<ref name="fp_zhong_shanshan" /> ''CNN'' reported in March 2024 that a nationalist online campaign against Nongfu (see below) had cut about US$3 billion from the company's market value and about US$2 billion from Zhong's personal wealth since the end of February that year.<ref name="cnn_zhong">CNN Business, [https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/13/business/china-nongfu-richest-man-nationalists-intl-hnk Not Chinese enough? Bottled water empire of China’s richest man is facing a nationalist boycott] ''CNN'', 13 March 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref>

== Wealth history ==
[[Forbes]] has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 8 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2019. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.<ref name="ForbesAnnual" /><ref name="fp_zhong_shanshan" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Forbes estimates by list year
! Year !! World's Billionaires rank !! Net worth (US$ bn)
|-
| 2019 || 1281 || 1.8
|-
| 2020 || 1063 || 2.0
|-
| 2021 || 13 || 68.9
|-
| 2022 || 17 || 65.7
|-
| 2023 || 15 || 68.0
|-
| 2024 || 24 || 62.3
|-
| 2025 || 26 || 57.7
|-
| 2026 || 27 || 68.1
|}

== Philanthropy ==
No personal foundation or documented major personal gift by Zhong was found in the sources checked for this profile.

== Political activity ==
No party, advisory-body or donation record for Zhong was found in the sources checked.

== Controversies and legal issues ==
''TRT World'' reported that in the 1990s Zhong sold supplements, including pills derived from turtle parts that were marketed as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, and that these later came under regulatory scrutiny.<ref name="trt_zhong" />

In March 2024, after the death on 25 February of [[Zong Qinghou]], founder of the rival drinks company Wahaha, Zhong and Nongfu Spring were attacked by Chinese online nationalists who accused him of a lack of patriotism.<ref name="st_zhong">Lim Min Zhang, [https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/why-the-backlash-nongfu-spring-chairman-draws-ire-of-china-s-nationalists Why the backlash? Nongfu Spring chairman draws ire of China’s nationalists] ''The Straits Times'', 20 March 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref><ref name="cnn_zhong" /> ''CNN'' reported that the attacks targeted designs on Nongfu packaging that critics said resembled Japanese imagery, the US citizenship of his son, and the presence of US fund managers such as [[Vanguard Group|Vanguard]] and [[BlackRock]] among the company's shareholders. It also reported that the calls for a boycott had alarmed state media outlets.<ref name="cnn_zhong" /> ''Caixin'' noted that online claims about Zhong's past relationship with Wahaha had not been verified.<ref name="caixin_zhong">Wu Xiaobo, [https://www.caixinglobal.com/2024-03-19/whats-behind-the-online-lashing-of-bottled-water-billionaire-zhong-shanshan-102177019.html What’s behind the online lashing of bottled water billionaire Zhong Shanshan?] ''Caixin Global'', 19 March 2024, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref>

== International and political links ==
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."

=== Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements) ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Jewish communal charities ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Gulf states ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== China ===
The 2024 nationalist online campaign against Zhong, and the reaction of state media, are described above.<ref name="cnn_zhong" />

=== Russia ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== India ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Palestinian or Arab causes ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Home government ===
See China above.

=== Other international links ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

== See also ==
* [[Nongfu Spring]]

== External links ==
* [https://www.nongfuspring.com/ Nongfu Spring official site]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Businesspeople|Zhong, Shanshan]]
[[Category:Living people|Zhong, Shanshan]]
[[Category:Chinese billionaires|Zhong, Shanshan]]
[[Category:China|Zhong, Shanshan]]
[[Category:Food and Drink|Zhong, Shanshan]]

Zhong Shanshan - Revision history

Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 21–50, 20 Oct 2026), all claims sourced