Wahaha Group's founder Zong Qinghou passes away at age of 79

Zong Qinghou, the founder of China's leading beverage company, passed away at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 25, at the age of 79 after treatment for an illness proved ineffective, his company said. 

Zong was the founder of the Wahaha conglomerate, which specializes in bottled water, soft drinks, tea and other products.

A memorial service for Zong will be held on Wednesday (Feb. 28) at the company's offices in the eastern city of Hangzhou, the statement said.

Zong was born in Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province in December 1945 and has long been regarded as one of the landmark figures in Chinese business history. He established Wahaha in 1987 and built it into a beverage giant whose drinks are a fixture in shops and kiosks across China.

In 2010, Zong was listed by Forbes magazine as China's richest person with a fortune worth $8 billion.