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 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, 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 rumours 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 US$49.3 billion, with Zhong number two on the list with US$47.9 billion. REUTERS
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