China's bottled water billionaire lashes out at Pinduoduo, ByteDance

Nongfu Spring

22/11/2024 05:57

SHANGHAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - One of China's richest
people has taken aim at tech firms ByteDance and Pinduoduo for
allegedly harming him and Chinese brands. 
    Zhong Shanshan, 69, and his bottled water company Nongfu
Springs  9633.HK  have been under heavy pressure thanks to a
price war and online personal attacks from nationalistic
internet users that wiped billions of dollars off the company's
market value. 
    At a public speech earlier this month, Zhong criticised
Pinduoduo, a discount-focused e-commerce player founded by
fellow billionaire Colin Huang, calling it “a huge harm for
Chinese brands and Chinese industries,” according to media
reports published this week.
    Pinduoduo is owned by PDD Holdings  PDD.O , which also runs
Temu. The company has faced protests in the past from Temu
merchants against its fees.
    At another event, he took aim at ByteDance apps Toutiao and
Douyin - the local version of TikTok - for not doing more to
halt malicious rumours about him spreading online. 
    “I hope Mr Zhang Yiming, Douyin, Toutiao and all the media
that have hurt me personally with rumors will apologise,” he
said. “I am waiting for your sincere apology! I’m waiting.”
    Pinduoduo, ByteDance and Nongfu Spring did not immediately
respond to requests for comment on Zhong's remarks, which
sparked widespread discussion on Chinese social media.
    PDD Holdings' Huang and ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming also
regularly feature towards the top of Chinese rich lists.
According to the Hurun China Rich List published at the end of
October, Zhang is China's richest person, with a personal wealth
of $49.3 billion, with Zhong number two on the list with $47.9
billion.

 (Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Stephen Coates)
 ((Casey.Hall@thomsonreuters.com;))