Wahaha Zong family's "billion" property dispute ruling exposed: Zong Qinghou did establish a trust plan, with the beneficiaries being the three siblings, and Zong Fuli is temporarily not allowed to misappropriate.

On August 1, the lawsuit involving the "Zong family's three siblings" and the current chairman of Wahaha, Zong Qinghou's daughter Zong Fuli, reached a ruling in Hong Kong.

The Daily Economic News reporter was the first to learn about the ruling. The ruling indicates that Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli had signed a trust agreement. According to the agreement, Zong Qinghou entrusted Zong Fuli to establish three overseas trusts (referred to as "Trust A", "Trust B", "Trust C", collectively known as the Zong family's overseas family trust), with Trust A benefiting Zong Jichang and his children; Trust B benefiting Zong Jieli and her children; and Trust C benefiting Zong Jisheng and his children. The beneficiaries of this Zong family trust only include Zong Jichang, Zong Jieli, Zong Jisheng, and their children, and the trust benefits are considered their premarital personal property, excluding the spouses of these individuals. The total amount of the trust is $2.1 billion.

The aforementioned trust is a non-principal trust, meaning that the trust assets continue to be invested in fixed-income investments at HSBC Hong Kong, with distributions only based on interest income; no individual may claim to use the principal of the trust property for distribution to the beneficiaries.

The trust is expected to transition to a professional trustee stage via a PTC (Private Trust Company) model. During the PTC transition phase, Zong Fuli serves as a shareholder of the trustee. After the trust transition period ends (i.e., entering the professional trustee stage), Zong Fuli will no longer participate in any management of the trust, which will be fully managed by the "Zong family's three siblings". Once the initial trust property is fully delivered, Zong Fuli will be relieved of her responsibilities.

The ruling shows that the "Zong family's three siblings" requested the court to issue an injunction, prohibiting Zong Fuli from handling the assets stored in the HSBC account, and also requiring her to inform them of the latest balance of the account, as well as provide a complete record of "asset, income, and expenditure changes" retroactively since February 2 of last year.

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