Nongfu Spring's Zhong demands apology over online attacks

Zhong Shanshan, China’s second-richest person, has called for an apology from Zhang Yiming, the nation’s wealthiest man and ByteDance founder, for the alleged role of his platforms in “spreading rumors and misinformation.”

Zhong Shanshan

In a speech delivered in Jiangxi Province last week, 69-year-old Zhong, founder and chairman of China’s largest packaged drinks company Nongfu Spring criticized Zhang, 41, for allowing ByteDance platforms such as Douyin and Toutiao to amplify nationalist-driven attacks against Nongfu Spring. “I look forward to your apology and I will keep waiting for it,” Zhong said in a public speech, according to media reports.

Earlier this year, Nongfu Spring faced a consumer boycott fueled by nationalist trolls online, who accused the brand’s packaging of mimicking Japanese aesthetics. Zhong claimed ByteDance’s platforms escalated the attacks, harming his company and personal image.

“I request Toutiao and Douyin not to use the so-called safe harbor principle to sidestep their responsibility,” Zhong said. “Please immediately remove content that hurts and slanders me.”

He emphasized that Zhang, the former CEO and board member of ByteDance, whom he described as the “actual controller of ByteDance,” “should follow the rules of business civility.”

ByteDance hasn’t responded to Zhong’s comment.

Zhong was also widely quoted as taking direct aim at Pinduoduo, criticizing the popular e-commerce site owned by PDD Holdings for hurting businesses.

“Internet platforms have brought down (our) pricing system. In particular, Pinduoduo’s pricing system has done great harm to China’s brands and its industries,” he was quoted as saying by The Paper. He criticized this behavior as not only driving out good money with bad but also as a negative industrial orientation. Pinduoduo has seen huge growth in recent years in part because of its highly competitive pricing.

Nongfu Spring has reported financial losses attributed to the aforementioned online attacks. The company’s interim report revealed an 18% decline in bottled water sales, falling to 8.53 billion yuan (US$1.18 billion) in the first half of 2024.

“Since the end of February 2024, our brand and sales have been severely impacted in a negative way due to a surge of online attacks and malicious defamation against our company and its founder,” a company representative said.