Zhong Shanshan Reclaims China's Richest Title as Nongfu Spring Surges Ahead

At age 70, Zhong Shanshan, the enigmatic founder of Nongfu Spring, has reclaimed his spot as China’s wealthiest individual, outpacing tech moguls like ByteDance’s Zhang Yiming and Tencent’s Ma Huateng. With a net worth of $65.9 billion, Zhong’s rise this year is powered not by an app or algorithm, but by the simplest of essentials: bottled water.

Photo courtesy of the company

Nongfu Spring’s 35% stock surge in 2025 has re-energized the brand’s market dominance and investor confidence. After a volatile 2024 marked by steep industry-wide price cuts, the company is now benefiting from easing pricing pressures, thanks to Beijing’s intervention against aggressive discounting. Zhong’s empire is not only bouncing back — it’s expanding, with analysts forecasting 13.6% sales growth in 2025, driven by bottled water and ready-to-drink teas.

From Dropout to Billionaire: A Chinese Rags-to-Riches Icon

Zhong’s journey to the top is the kind that fuels business folklore. A grade-school dropout who once worked as a bricklayer, journalist, and traveling salesman, he built Nongfu Spring into a national staple — and a symbol of aspirational domestic branding. Launched in the late 1990s, the company disrupted China’s beverage landscape with a marketing focus on natural water sources and minimalist design.

But his portfolio doesn’t stop at hydration. Zhong also owns a significant stake in Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, which produces diagnostic kits and vaccines — a timely and strategic asset during and after the pandemic era.

The Summer Surge and What’s Ahead

This summer, Nongfu Spring is positioned to benefit from both consumer stockpiling behavior and e-commerce platform subsidies that are reshaping how food and beverages reach Chinese households. Market experts see the brand poised for sustained growth, especially as it doubles down on tea beverages — a category gaining traction among younger, health-conscious consumers.

In its most recent annual report, Nongfu Spring described last year as “an unprecedented assault and trial.” But for Zhong, adversity has always been part of the story. And now, with regulators cooling down the price wars and consumers returning to trusted domestic brands, it seems the man once called “the Lone Wolf” of Chinese business is not just surviving — he’s thriving.