Financial veterans at the helm, are the good days for C'estbon still to come?

Listing | China Visitor Network

Review | Li Xiaoyan

At the start of 2026, China Resources Beverage (02460.HK), listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for just 15 months, has completed a major leadership change. Senior finance veteran Gao Li from the China Resources system has taken over as Chairman of the Board, opening a new chapter in the company’s development. This leadership change is not just a simple personnel adjustment but a strategic move by this leading national beverage company with a market value in the hundreds of billions. Amid intensified industry competition and critical transformation phases, the company is proactively seeking change and improving quality and efficiency. Short-term performance pressures do not alter the long-term growth outlook. Relying on a strong brand foundation, omnichannel distribution network, and resources from central enterprises, under the new management team, China Resources Beverage is shifting from scale expansion to refined operations, seizing opportunities amid challenges to return to a high-quality growth trajectory.

As a leading enterprise in China’s packaged drinking water industry, the Yibao brand under China Resources Beverage has been deeply rooted in the market for over 40 years, becoming a benchmark for national drinking water. Yibao has maintained the top retail sales in China’s pure water market for many years, with brand recognition and consumer loyalty ranking at the top of the industry. It is also the official drinking water of China’s national teams, accompanying them in international competitions, with brand value and national recognition continuously rising. Thanks to consistent quality, standardized products, and a deeply ingrained brand image, Yibao has built a solid consumer mental barrier. Even in the face of fierce price competition in the industry, it maintains a core market share, serving as a stabilizer for the company’s steady development.

Currently, the industry has entered a new stage of stock competition, with intensified price battles in the packaged water sector. Coupled with changes in consumer market structure, China Resources Beverage faces a temporary slowdown in performance growth. In 2024, revenue remained stable; in the first half of 2025, external competitive shocks caused short-term fluctuations in revenue and profit, a common experience for leading FMCG companies during market restructuring. Compared to short-term performance fluctuations, the more valuable aspect is strengthening the company’s foundational development: building a nationwide omnichannel network covering over two million retail outlets, strong penetration into lower-tier markets, a stable and mature distributor system, and comprehensive layouts across supermarkets, catering, communities, and e-commerce. The company’s channel control and terminal reach are industry-leading.

Objectively, the current phase of pressure faced by the company stems from both external industry competition and internal areas needing improvement. Historically, performance has been centered on the pure water business, with a relatively concentrated product portfolio; reliance on outsourced manufacturing is high, with potential for cost control and capacity optimization; organizational management and frontline incentive mechanisms need further refinement to meet the demands of refined operations in a competitive environment. However, these are growth-related issues rather than core competitive weaknesses. With strategic adjustments and management upgrades, these shortcomings will be quickly addressed, and the company’s resilience will continue to strengthen.

Gao Li’s appointment as the new leader is a strategic move by China Resources Beverage to adapt to industry trends and solve development challenges. Gao has been with China Resources for nearly 20 years, serving as Finance Director of China Resources Beverage for ten years. He has been directly involved in and promoted Yibao’s transition from a regional brand to a national leader. He is well-versed in the company’s operations, business logic, and channel ecology, and possesses top-tier financial control, resource integration, and digital operation capabilities. He is the ideal candidate to drive quality improvement and steady transformation. Unlike traditional perceptions of financial managers, Gao combines strategic vision with practical experience, understanding both “accounting” and “business management,” capable of precise cost-benefit control and building efficient operational systems. His management style aligns closely with the company’s current transformation needs.

In the era of stock competition, refined operations and cost reduction and efficiency are the core paths for FMCG companies to break through. This is Gao Li’s core strength. During his tenure, he led the development of a comprehensive cost management system, promoted lean control of sales expenses, optimized resource allocation, and eliminated ineffective investments. He also led the implementation of terminal management system SUP and distributor collaboration platform DMS, empowering channel management through digital means, improving terminal sales efficiency and distributor cooperation. Returning to the company, he will leverage his expertise to optimize cost structures, supply chain systems, and channel operations, tightening operational margins, improving profitability, and turning every investment into tangible growth.

This leadership adjustment is not just personnel change but the beginning of a comprehensive strategic upgrade for China Resources Beverage. The company is simultaneously introducing senior executives with extensive M&A and category operation experience, forming a professional and diversified management team to inject strong momentum into category expansion and ecosystem development. Moving forward, the company will maintain the core of Yibao pure water, consolidating brand advantages and market position, while accelerating diversification into categories such as beverages, tea drinks, and functional drinks to create a second growth curve. This will shift away from reliance on a single category, building a product system of “one water-based core with multiple categories,” enhancing risk resistance and long-term growth potential.

Supply chain optimization will become a key driver of quality and efficiency improvements. With the strong support of China Resources Group’s resources, China Resources Beverage is steadily increasing its own production capacity, optimizing capacity layout and logistics, reducing dependence on outsourced manufacturing, controlling production costs from the source, and ensuring product quality. It will enhance capacity during peak seasons and inventory management during off-peak periods, strengthening supply chain security. Meanwhile, the company will deepen channel reforms, optimize distributor assessment systems, reduce emphasis on stockpiling, and focus on terminal sales, store maintenance, and new product promotion. It will improve frontline team incentives, enhance organizational vitality and terminal execution, rebuild channel confidence, and activate endogenous channel motivation.

Standing at a new development starting point, China Resources Beverage’s opportunities far outweigh its challenges. Under the trend of consumption upgrading, demand for healthy and quality beverages continues to grow, providing broad space for category expansion; increasing recognition of national brands and the rise of domestic潮流消费 (trend consumption) empower the Yibao brand; omnichannel networks and backing from central enterprises provide solid support for resource integration and market deployment; the experienced and strategically clear new management team aligns precisely with industry development trends. These multiple advantages will help the company quickly emerge from short-term adjustments and achieve steady recovery.

Since its listing, China Resources Beverage has maintained its commitment to quality, fulfilled corporate social responsibility, deepened market engagement, and served consumers, demonstrating strong resilience and risk resistance. This management renewal is an important step in proactive change and self-innovation, marking the company’s entry into a new stage of refined operations and high-quality development. Facing industry transformation and market competition, China Resources Beverage will leverage its brand, channel, management, and innovation to strengthen fundamentals, address weaknesses, and build on strengths, steadily advancing its strategic upgrade from “a bottle of water” to “a full range of beverages.”

After more than 40 years of accumulation, China Resources Beverage has the strength to navigate cycles and move steadily forward. Short-term performance fluctuations are inevitable tests on the growth path; the iteration and upgrade of core management are new starting points for the company’s leap forward. Under Gao Li’s leadership, the new management team will accurately grasp industry opportunities, solve development challenges, reshape competitive advantages, and steadily achieve performance stabilization and long-term value growth.