Wahaha boss urges tax cuts to lift growth
Zong Qinghou also wants Beijing to break up monopolies and ease red-tape burden
Beverage tycoon Zong Qinghou, the mainland's richest man, is now planning to build a retail empire.
The chairman of Hangzhou Wahaha Group yesterday said the company plans to open at least 100 shopping centres across the mainland over the next three to five years.
An initial public offering of the retailing business is also being weighed but there's no time frame as yet, he said.
"We are very confident about tapping into the retail industry. We believe the revenue generated from the retailing sector will exceed that of our bottled-water business by 2015," said the 67-year-old billionaire who ranked as the richest mainlander, with a wealth of US$10 billion, last year.
We are very confident about tapping into the retail industry. We believe the revenue generated from the retailing sector will exceed that of our bottled-water business by 2015
Wahaha, the mainland's largest soft-drink maker in terms of revenue, last year posted sales revenue of 63.6 billion yuan (HK$80 billion) and a net profit of 8.1 billion yuan.
