The 12.5 billion yuan fortune of the family is starkly contrasted by the persistent governance challenges at their listed companies.
The lyrics "Huangtai, press on; Huangtai, refuel; Revitalizing Huangtai is like building the Great Wall" and "Moutai in the south, Huangtai in the north; Huangtai in the north, a pearl of Longyuan..." come from the song "Fine Wine on the Silk Road," penned in 2020 by Zhao Mantang, born in 1960 and once known as Gansu's richest man, expressing his encouragement and hopes for Huangtai Liquor Co., Ltd. (SHE: 000995).
At that time, shortly after Huangtai Liquor had resumed its listing, Zhao Mantang ambitiously stated his goal to establish a certain market scale within 3-5 years and to genuinely realize the saying "Moutai in the south, Huangtai in the north" within a decade.
Zhao Mantang is not only the actual controller of Huangtai Liquor but also of another listed company, Shengda Resources (SHE: 000603).
Shengda Resources is a leading domestic silver enterprise, with its silver reserves ranking among the top for A-share listed companies. In 2025, Shengda Resources reported revenue of 2.461 billion yuan and a net profit attributable to the parent company of 532 million yuan.
However, Zhao Mantang's mood is likely less than ideal recently.
Governance Woes
On the evening of June 15th, Shengda Resources disclosed two significant announcements revealing that both the company and its actual controller, Zhao Mantang, had received "Case Filing Notices" from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on the same day.
The announcements indicated that the CSRC decided to file a case against Shengda Resources and Zhao Mantang for suspected violations of information disclosure regulations.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time Zhao Mantang has drawn regulatory attention.
In 2018, due to information disclosure violations where Shengda Group failed to truthfully disclose its holdings of "Shengda Mining" shares and the pledge status of those shares, Zhao Mantang, as the directly responsible executive, was warned by the CSRC and fined 200,000 yuan.
In January 2020, Zhao Mantang also received a regulatory letter from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange for "short-swing trading" activities.
What is the cause this time? According to Shengda Resources' "self-inspection," the related case involves a previous incident of fund misappropriation—from February to December 2024, Shengda Resources' controlling shareholder, Gansu Shengda Group, and its affiliates cumulatively misappropriated 792 million yuan in non-operating funds from Shengda Resources, with a peak daily balance of 275 million yuan.
Although the money was later repaid, this filing will inevitably lead to administrative penalties. As is well known, the capital market currently enforces strict supervision with a "zero tolerance" approach.
Whether it's a case of "learning from the same master" or a genuine need for improvement in corporate governance capabilities, it has been observed that Huangtai Liquor has also repeatedly crossed regulatory red lines in recent years.
For example, in September 2023, Huangtai Liquor, its Chairman Zhao Haifeng, and a group of involved executives received a regulatory letter from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The reason was that Huangtai Liquor had conducted related-party transactions with both suppliers and customers in 2022, but the company did not truthfully disclose this in its annual report.
Zhao Haifeng is precisely the eldest son of Zhao Mantang. Born in 1982, he holds a Ph.D. in Regional Economics from Lanzhou University and worked in a Lanzhou municipal government department for nearly a decade.
To be fair, Zhao Mantang has had notable ideas regarding the education and cultivation of his children.
His second son, Zhao Qing, currently serves as the Chairman of Shengda Resources. Born in 1984, Zhao Qing studied at the University of Essex and the University of York in the UK, holding a postgraduate degree.
His daughter, Zhao Min, born in 1986, studied at the University of Denver in the USA, previously worked as a fund analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman Bank and as a project manager in the investment banking department of Hualong Securities, and is currently a director of Shengda Resources.
All three children are highly accomplished elites. As the old saying goes, "When father and son are of one mind, they can cut through metal." According to the "2026 Hurun Rich List," the Zhao Mantang family possesses a fortune of 12.5 billion yuan.
The flip side of the coin is that the comprehensive governance performance of the listed companies they control leaves much to be desired.
What is the Most Crucial Capability for "Building the Great Wall"?
Perhaps even more lamentable is that after seven years, Huangtai Liquor is still struggling to find its footing.
Not only has the gap with Kweichow Moutai Co.,Ltd. (SHA: 600519) widened, but even within the northwestern liquor circle, its market position has been steadily declining.
Jinhuijiu, also from Gansu, is the undisputed leading liquor enterprise in the northwest, with last year's revenue reaching 2.918 billion yuan. Xinjiang Yilite achieved 1.722 billion yuan, Qinghai Tianyoude 1.1 billion yuan, while Huangtai Liquor recorded only 170 million yuan.
Even within its home province of Gansu, Huangtai Liquor has fallen to the third tier, left to gaze from afar at Jinhuijiu, Hongchuan, and Binhe Jiuliangye.
Founded in 1985, Huangtai Liquor was once the largest baijiu enterprise in northwest China, with the industry once saying "Moutai in the south, Huangtai in the north." It listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2000, a year earlier than Kweichow Moutai. However, the good times did not last. Over its 20-plus years as a listed company, it has changed its actual controller on average every four years.
In 2019, Shengda Group took control of Huangtai Liquor, with Zhao Mantang becoming the company's actual controller and his eldest son Zhao Haifeng assuming the role of Chairman.
According to public information, in 2023, Huangtai Liquor focused on expanding into the national market, planning to achieve a performance target of 300 million yuan and push towards the 500 million yuan mark.
Yet reality proved starkly different; the company incurred losses in both 2021 and 2023. Even by 2025, it only achieved revenue of 170 million yuan. In the first quarter of 2026, Huangtai Liquor reported revenue of 31.94 million yuan and a net profit attributable to the parent company of -4.82 million yuan.
The glory of the past seems a distant memory. One can imagine the frustration and helplessness felt by the Zhao family behind the scenes.
The frequent personnel changes at Huangtai Liquor in recent years likely reflect the Zhao family's desperation to find a breakthrough.
The current Marketing Director of Huangtai Liquor is Xiu Weihua, former General Manager of Gansu Hongchuan Liquor. Before him, the Marketing Director was Zhang Jindao, who was appointed Vice General Manager and Marketing Director of Huangtai Liquor in August 2023.
Zhang Jindao previously served as a Provincial Regional Manager for Luzhou Laojiao and Sales Director for Sichuan, Chongqing, and Yunnan at Jinsha Liquor. However, he held the marketing director position for less than two years before being removed.
In May of this year, Zhang Jindao completely resigned and left Huangtai Liquor. Earlier, Marketing Deputy Director Yao Dejun also resigned in November 2025.
The position of Board Secretary has also seen a revolving door of changes. Since July 2022, Huangtai Liquor has had four different Board Secretaries. The current Board Secretary, Xiang Xinzhou, took office in November 2025. His predecessors who left were Xie Gang, Duan Wenxin, and Cheng Zhijian, none of whom served for more than a year and a half.
Can Huangtai Liquor turn things around? One can only sigh at how apt Zhao Mantang's lyrics were: "Huangtai, press on; Huangtai, refuel; Revitalizing Huangtai is like building the Great Wall..."
Little did they realize that the core capabilities most needed for "building the Great Wall" are precisely strong organizational control and governance capabilities, coupled with long-term strategic resolve.
As this piece concludes, on the evening of June 16th, Huangtai Liquor announced that, upon verification, the current case filing investigation involving its actual controller Zhao Mantang is unrelated to the company and will not affect the company's production, operations, or management activities.
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