Following the May Day holiday, Sichuan Swellfun Co.,Ltd., the Sichuan-based baijiu producer with a market capitalization in the tens of billions, has undergone another significant change in its core management team.
According to an announcement issued by Sichuan Swellfun on May 6, Hu Tingzhou has resigned from his positions as director, general manager, member of the strategy committee, member of the nomination committee, and legal representative for personal reasons.
Hu Tingzhou's departure comes less than two years after he assumed the role of general manager in July 2024. The position of general manager at Sichuan Swellfun has now changed hands five times in the past five years.
Following Hu's departure, the company's Chief Strategy Officer, Zhou Zhiming, has been appointed to temporarily take over the leadership responsibilities.
Looking back at Hu Tingzhou's tenure, Sichuan Swellfun experienced a brief period of strong performance. In 2024, the company's revenue surpassed the 50 billion yuan mark for the first time, reaching a record high, with net profit attributable to shareholders hitting 13.41 billion yuan.
However, this positive momentum was short-lived. The following year, Sichuan Swellfun's performance deteriorated sharply, with revenue plunging 41.77% year-on-year to 30.38 billion yuan, a level comparable to its 2020 figures. Net profit attributable to shareholders plummeted 69.73% to 4.06 billion yuan, marking the lowest level in nearly eight years.
The negative trend continued into the first quarter of 2026, with revenue declining 14.92% year-on-year to 8.16 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders falling 10.12% to 1.71 billion yuan.
It is noteworthy that Hu Tingzhou received substantial compensation during his time at Sichuan Swellfun. In 2024, despite working for less than half a year, he received pre-tax compensation of 6.2339 million yuan. In 2025, his annual pre-tax compensation climbed to 9.9644 million yuan, bringing his total earnings during his tenure to over 16 million yuan.
Professional Manager Departs Baijiu Giant in Less Than Two Years After market close on May 6, Sichuan Swellfun announced the resignation of General Manager Hu Tingzhou, who submitted a written resignation report to the board.
Hu Tingzhou resigned from his roles as director, general manager, member of the strategy committee, and member of the nomination committee for personal reasons, effective immediately. He also stepped down from his position as the company's legal representative.
The announcement indicated that Hu Tingzhou's original term was scheduled to expire on June 4, 2027, meaning he resigned from his key positions over a year early.
Sichuan Swellfun stated that Hu's resignation would not reduce the number of board members below the statutory minimum and would not affect the company's normal operations.
As of the announcement date, Hu Tingzhou did not hold any company shares and had no outstanding commitments. He will complete the handover process in accordance with company regulations.
Public information shows that Hu Tingzhou, born in 1976, holds a bachelor's degree in Applied Chemistry from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an EMBA from CEIBS.
Prior to joining Sichuan Swellfun, Hu Tingzhou, a typical professional manager, held positions at several well-known companies, including sales and management roles at Procter & Gamble, Kodak, and PepsiCo, as well as serving as General Manager of Hershey China, Chief Product Officer for Ping An Group's life insurance business, and President of Yuyuan Tourist Mart.
In mid-July 2024, Hu Tingzhou joined Sichuan Swellfun as general manager, succeeding Jiang Leifeng.
Shortly after taking office, Hu Tingzhou, along with the company's senior management team, met with 258 participants, including securities analysts, individual investors, and institutional investors.
At the "Sichuan Swellfun · First Workshop" 2025 Strategy Launch Conference held in March last year, Hu Tingzhou made his largest public appearance since assuming his role.
During the event, Sichuan Swellfun unveiled its "dual-brand" strategy: the "Sichuan Swellfun" brand would focus on core products in the 300-800 yuan price range, while the "First Workshop" brand would target the ultra-premium segment above 800 yuan.
Hu Tingzhou stated at the time, "As general manager, I spent about 70% of my time in the first eight months visiting consumers with the team to refine our strategy. We visited over ten thousand consumers."
However, just over a year later, Hu Tingzhou has stepped down. Following his departure, Sichuan Swellfun's board held an interim meeting and approved the appointment of Zhou Zhiming to act as general manager starting May 6, pending the appointment of a new permanent general manager.
Sichuan Swellfun stated that the board aims to complete the appointment of a new general manager within the first half of the year.
Zhou Zhiming, 41, holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Electronic Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He previously served as Associate Partner at Bain & Company, Chief Strategy Officer for Fosun Group's consumer business, and President of Baihe Jiayuan. He is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of Sichuan Swellfun.
Sichuan Swellfun's Volatile Performance Public records indicate that Sichuan Swellfun's predecessor can be traced back to the state-owned Chengdu Distillery, established in 1951.
The distillery, based on the Fushengquan workshop, produced the distinctive "Quanxing Daqu" liquor, which later became one of China's "Eight Famous Baijiu" brands and one of Sichuan's "Six Golden Flowers" of the liquor industry.
In 1989, the state-owned Chengdu Distillery was renamed Sichuan Chengdu Quanxing Distillery. In 1997, Quanxing was restructured and expanded to form Sichuan Chengdu Quanxing Group Co., Ltd.
Subsequently, Quanxing achieved a backdoor listing by acquiring Sichuan Pharmaceutical and was renamed Quanxing Co., Ltd. (renamed Sichuan Swellfun in 2006).
In the late 1990s, the discovery of the Yuan Dynasty-era workshop on Shuijing Street in Chengdu allowed Quanxing Group to integrate the Sichuan Swellfun community, Shuijing Street, and the historical workshop site into a cohesive corporate culture, creating the new premium brand "Sichuan Swellfun."
Shortly after its launch, Sichuan Swellfun achieved breakeven. In 2000, Quanxing Co., Ltd.'s revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan, briefly surpassing that of Kweichow Moutai.
However, this period of success was short-lived. In 2001, significant adjustments to national baijiu tax policies directly led to a sharp decline in the profitability of its liquor assets.
In 2002, Quanxing Co., Ltd.'s net profit attributable to shareholders plummeted by 90%, bringing the company to the brink of losses. In 2003, the company recorded a net loss of 177 million yuan.
To avoid being labeled as an ST (special treatment) company, then-Chairman Yang Zhaoji decided to sell liquor assets to support the pharmaceutical business, using the proceeds to increase investment in Sichuan Pharmaceutical and other pharmaceutical subsidiaries.
In 2005, Sichuan Swellfun caught the attention of international spirits giant Diageo, which began acquiring shares in the company.
In December 2006, Diageo acquired a 43% stake in Quanxing Group, Sichuan Swellfun's largest shareholder, indirectly holding 16.87% of Sichuan Swellfun.
In 2011, Diageo became the actual controlling shareholder of Sichuan Swellfun. In 2013, Diageo acquired the remaining 47% stake in Quanxing Group. That same year, Quanxing Group was renamed Sichuan Swellfun Group.
Amid the acquisition transition and the impact of the plasticizer scandal and the "Eight Rules" campaign around 2012, Sichuan Swellfun's performance suffered significant setbacks in 2013 and 2014. Revenue declined by 70.31% and 24.88%, respectively, and the company recorded net losses for two consecutive years, totaling 557 million yuan.
To address these challenges, Sichuan Swellfun adopted a strategy focused on "returning to and concentrating on the mid-to-high-end segment." With the gradual recovery of the baijiu industry, the company's performance gradually returned to normal.
From 2015 to 2019, Sichuan Swellfun entered a period of rapid growth. During this time, its revenue increased from 8.55 billion yuan to 35.39 billion yuan, while net profit attributable to shareholders rose from 88 million yuan to 8.26 billion yuan.
Five General Managers in Five Years, Hu Tingzhou Earned Over 16 Million During Tenure In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Sichuan Swellfun's five-year streak of consecutive growth.
That year, the company's revenue decreased by 15.06% year-on-year to 30.06 billion yuan, while net profit attributable to shareholders fell by 11.49% to 7.31 billion yuan.
Subsequently, Sichuan Swellfun experienced frequent changes in senior management, with the general manager position changing hands five times in five years.
In September 2020, General Manager Wei Yongbiao resigned after just over a year in the role. Two and a half years later, in February 2023, his successor, Zhu Zhenhao, resigned. From early 2023 to mid-2024, the general manager position was temporarily held by Ai Enhua and Jiang Leifeng.
In July 2024, Hu Tingzhou took on the role of general manager at Sichuan Swellfun but resigned less than two years later. Starting in May 2026, Zhou Zhiming has been acting as general manager.
Hu Tingzhou received substantial compensation after assuming his role. In 2024, despite working for less than half a year, his pre-tax compensation reached 6.2339 million yuan.
For the full year of 2025, Hu Tingzhou's pre-tax compensation amounted to 9.9644 million yuan. In total, during his tenure of less than two years, he earned over 16 million yuan.
Under Hu Tingzhou's leadership, Sichuan Swellfun's revenue and profit reached record highs in 2024, but the company faced significant performance challenges the following year.
In 2025, Sichuan Swellfun's revenue decreased by 41.77% year-on-year to 30.38 billion yuan, reverting to 2020 levels. Net profit attributable to shareholders plummeted by nearly 70% to 4.06 billion yuan, marking the lowest level in nearly eight years.
In its annual report, Sichuan Swellfun attributed last year's revenue decline to a combination of industry cyclicality and the company's proactive adjustments.
The company noted that in 2025, the baijiu industry entered a deep adjustment phase due to the combined effects of macroeconomic cycles, industry adjustment cycles, and policy changes. Traditional consumption scenarios, such as business banquets, recovered slowly, and industry-wide inventory remained high.
Due to the revenue decline and other factors, Sichuan Swellfun's net cash flow from operating activities turned negative last year, dropping from 7.44 billion yuan in 2024 to -6.24 billion yuan.
In terms of product structure, premium baijiu remained the company's primary revenue driver in 2025, generating 26.87 billion yuan in revenue, a decrease of 43.59% year-on-year. This segment accounted for 93.93% of total operating revenue, with its gross margin declining by 2.66 percentage points.
Entering 2026, Sichuan Swellfun's performance continued to face pressure. In the first quarter, the company's revenue decreased by 14.92% year-on-year to 8.16 billion yuan, while net profit attributable to shareholders fell by 10.12% to 1.71 billion yuan.
Industry analysis suggests that the frequent changes in leadership at Sichuan Swellfun stem primarily from the short-term performance evaluation orientation of its foreign controlling shareholder. A deeper reason lies in the conflict between foreign management culture and the local dynamics of the Chinese baijiu market.
Following Hu Tingzhou's departure, the key question remains whether Sichuan Swellfun can swiftly find a new leader to guide the company out of its current performance downturn.
Comments