Zong Qinghou, chairman and general manager of Hangzhou Wahaha Group, announced the decision to set up 100 shopping malls in the next 3 to 5 years. The first would be in Shangqiu city, Henan province.

In the opinion of Zong Qinghou, diversification is a must for further development of Wahaha. China's retail market in is currently controlled by foreign investment. So his company decided to build their own network of retail outlets to expand the industrial chain and distribution channels. They planned to build their shopping malls in every major city.

At the same time, Zong attached great importance to Chongqing. "There were a lot of investment opportunities in the vast western capital markets," he said. Chongqing, an important city in western China, is endowed with developing opportunities. He seeks to not only build shopping malls there, but also to seek developing opportunities of bio-engineering and high technology industry. Wahaha Group had started two production bases in Fulin and Yubei.

Wahaha is China's largest food and beverage manufacturers and the world's fourth largest beverage company. It is operated by Hangzhou Wahaha Group. It was built in 1987, whose major business covers developing, producing and selling food as well as beverages.

By Xie Fang & Luo Jiao