宗婕莉

Jessie Zong, female, was born in 1998. Since December 2022, she has served as a director of Shenyang Wahaha Rongtai Food Co., Ltd., holding an executive position within the company. The legal representative of the company is Zong Fuli, and her business partners include Zong Jichang and Yan Xuefeng.

In December 2024, Jessie Zong, together with Zong Jichang and Jerry Zong, filed a lawsuit in Hong Kong against Wahaha chairwoman Zong Fuli. The three claim to be the illegitimate children of Wahaha founder Zong Qinghou and former marketing director Du Jianying, making them Zong Fuli’s half-siblings. Until then, the public widely believed Zong Fuli to be Zong Qinghou’s only child. At the same time, the three also filed a lawsuit at the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court, seeking confirmation of their inheritance rights to 29.4% of Wahaha Group’s equity held by Zong Fuli, as well as claims to trust funds valued at about USD 700 million each.

According to the lawsuit documents, Zong Qinghou allegedly instructed the establishment of a trust through HSBC Hong Kong, with the account holding about USD 1.8 billion at the beginning of 2024. By May 2024, USD 1.1 million had already been transferred out. The plaintiffs requested the freezing of this account and demanded that Zong Fuli pay interest on the assets and compensate for financial losses caused by the transfers. Zong Fuli’s legal team questioned the validity of the evidence and the authenticity of the plaintiffs’ birth certificates, submitting a 2020 will as defense, which stipulated that all overseas assets should be inherited by her.

On July 13, 2025, the Hong Kong High Court (Courtroom 23) opened hearings on the dispute. On July 17, the Hangzhou Shangcheng District Finance Bureau announced the formation of a special task force to handle the matter. On July 20, the Hong Kong High Court confirmed that the case would be heard in chambers on August 1. On August 1, the court issued its decision on the trust case and granted an interim injunction, prohibiting Zong Fuli from withdrawing or transferring funds from Jian Hao Ventures Limited’s HSBC account in Hong Kong until rulings in mainland Chinese courts were finalized.

The High Court also revealed that on February 2, 2024, Zong Qinghou had made two wills: one covering overseas assets and another concerning mainland Chinese assets. Neither will named Jessie Zong, Zong Jichang, Jerry Zong, or Du Jianying as beneficiaries. Instead, beneficiaries included Zong Fuli, her mother Shi Youzhen, and Zong Qinghou’s mother Wang Shuzhen, among others. The plaintiffs’ lawyer argued that Zong Qinghou had privately acknowledged the three as part of the “Zong family bloodline” in his later years and had promised that they “would not be left out.”

As one of the central figures in the inheritance and equity dispute over Zong Qinghou’s estate, Jessie Zong is both an active company director and a key participant in a high-profile family conflict that has drawn widespread public attention.