Wu Xiangdong's 200 days, a new beginning for Zhenjiu Lidu

Zebra Consumer Yang Wei

What can be achieved in 200 days? Enough time for a seed to take root, sprout, grow, and bear fruit.

In the baijiu industry, 200 days is also sufficient to create a blockbuster product and build a "highway" for liquor sales.

Since May this year, Wu Xiangdong, the helmsman of Zhenjiu Lidu, has gathered over 3,800 of China's most skilled liquor sellers through more than 70 forums, generating 580 million yuan in revenue for the new product Dazhen·Zhenjiu, making it a super hit in the baijiu industry.

These 200 days mark a critical period for Wu Xiangdong and Zhenjiu Lidu's "re-entrepreneurship" with Dazhen and the Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance, and they are destined to become a turning point in the new cycle of China's liquor market.

The Key to Breaking the Baijiu Cycle

If one were to be chosen as a witness to China's baijiu industry operations over the past 30 years, Wu Xiangdong would undoubtedly be the most suitable candidate.

Entering the industry in the 1990s, he first drank, then sold, and later brewed liquor. He not only founded Huazhi Liquor, China's largest liquor sales system, but also became the helmsman of Zhenjiu Lidu, the first baijiu stock listed in Hong Kong.

The current round of adjustments in the baijiu industry since 2022 has lasted longer than the one in 2013. By the first half of 2025, the baijiu market had reached its most pessimistic expectations.

Having weathered multiple industry cycles, Wu Xiangdong knows well that cycles will eventually reverse, but the new era will not return in the old way. Adjustments must be made to find new opportunities.

Thus, Dazhen·Zhenjiu was launched with great fanfare, quickly topping the sales charts for mid-to-high-priced baijiu products and becoming one of the most important new products in the 2025 baijiu market.

A new benchmark product must be paired with a new distribution model to completely break the traditional top-down inventory-pushing model and directly reach consumers.

In May, Wu Xiangdong held the first Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance Wealth Creation Forum in Zunyi, Guizhou. Over 200 days, more than 70 forums have been held. Through this series of events, a group of people who truly understand Zhenjiu Lidu, the logic behind Dazhen, and the future of the baijiu market have become Dazhen's alliance merchants.

In Wu Xiangdong's words, this is about gathering China's most skilled liquor sellers and group buyers to build a "highway" for liquor sales.

In Zunyi, the "City of Fortune," Wu Xiangdong met 74-year-old Hou Qiuhua, the oldest among all Dazhen alliance merchants. She has been collaborating with Wu Xiangdong since 1998, spanning 27 years.

After attending five Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance forums, she sold 500 cases of Dazhen in less than 200 days. Hou Qiuhua's advice is to focus on small and medium-sized enterprises and local branches of large corporations, targeting the key scenario of business liquor consumption.

Zheng Haonan, from Hangzhou's West Lake Longjing Village, is a rare post-00s entrant in the liquor industry. Hailing from the e-commerce capital and a business family, he chose the baijiu industry because of Zhenjiu and Dazhen. In a few years, he could become a pillar of the next generation in the baijiu industry.

Another alliance merchant from Shaoxing, Zhejiang, became deeply involved with Dazhen and later purchased 50 million yuan worth of Zhenjiu Lidu shares. His reasoning was simple: he had previously bought Kweichow Moutai on the A-share market and didn't want to miss Zhenjiu Lidu on the Hong Kong market.

These inspiring stories were shared during Wu Xiangdong's fifth livestream on December 9. Titled "Our 200 Days," the livestream attracted over 9.78 million viewers, with 3.4 million likes and a peak of 380,000 concurrent viewers, setting a new record for engagement.

Why Did Zhenjiu Succeed?

During this milestone livestream, Wu Xiangdong revealed the achievements of Dazhen and the Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance: 200 days, 71 forums, 9,481 participants, 3,816 signed clients, and 580 million yuan in revenue for Dazhen.

This is nothing short of a miracle in the traditionally "slow-burning" baijiu industry. Previously, it took at least three years for a new baijiu product to reach 500 million yuan in revenue.

Thus, Dazhen has been dubbed "a fire in the winter of baijiu." But why was this fire able to ignite?

First, the product stands out. Dazhen·Zhenjiu is the result of heritage and innovation. During the 2024 baijiu adjustment period, Zhenjiu's Authentic Vintage series performed exceptionally well, driving overall growth, leading to the creation of Zhenjiu·2020 Authentic Vintage, also known as Dazhen.

With a quality comparable to Feitian Moutai, iconic packaging design, and the surprise of high-end quality at an extreme price, Dazhen boasts formidable product competitiveness.

The Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance for Dazhen not only gathered China's most skilled liquor sellers but also revolutionized the baijiu distribution model by eliminating inventory pressure and focusing on end sales. Alliance merchants only reorder after selling a batch, ensuring the alliance operates with both "highway" efficiency and "last-mile" delivery.

To prevent cutthroat competition, Zhenjiu implemented a grid-based management system for alliance merchants, supporting the formation of regional alliances. Currently, 61 alliances have been established, with a target of 1,000.

Dazhen's alliance merchants are not ordinary distributors but true stakeholders with the company. In the short term, they earn profits from baijiu sales; in the long term, they will receive trust beneficiary shares in Zhenjiu Lidu. The first batch of signed alliance merchants has already received 16,000 shares each, worth 115,000 yuan at current prices.

Of course, Zhenjiu also imposes stricter "Six No" principles on alliance merchants: no direct low pricing, no online sales, no low-value giveaways, no sub-distribution, no cash-back discounts, and no sales for debt settlement.

The ultimate goal of the "Six No" principles is to maintain Dazhen's pricing system, ensuring all alliance merchants profit and creating a virtuous cycle that eliminates the dangerous mechanism of price inversion in traditional baijiu products and distribution systems.

Zhenjiu conducts strict market inspections and supervision, penalizing or terminating alliance merchants who violate the principles. To date, the Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance has issued 123 penalty notices and terminated 150 partnerships.

Meanwhile, Wu Xiangdong's IP-driven strategy has played a key role in promoting Dazhen as a core product. To build his entrepreneur IP, he even sought mentorship from industry veterans like Xiao Daye.

Since July, Wu Xiangdong, with his signature smile and Hunan-accented Mandarin, has generated over 300 million views through five livestreams and 118 videos.

In the "Top 100 Entrepreneur Video IPs (November)" list released by Zhenhe Island and New Rank, Wu Xiangdong's IP ranked first, surpassing Yu Minhong, Zhou Hongyi, and Lei Jun.

Moreover, compared to other entrepreneur IPs, Wu Xiangdong's IP directly attracts alliance merchants and core consumers, driving sales of products like Dazhen, making it one of the highest-converting entrepreneur IPs.

Wu Xiangdong not only personally engages in the video platform's traffic 红利 but also advises alliance merchants to follow suit and leverage his IP to advance their businesses.

Dazhen Is Just the First Battle

After 200 days of operation, Wu Xiangdong's "highway" for liquor sales has taken shape, and Dazhen has established itself as a blockbuster product in the baijiu market.

In the next six months, Wu Xiangdong plans to continue attracting 5,000 high-quality alliance merchants through the Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance Wealth Creation Forum. Meanwhile, through organizational reforms at Zhenjiu Lidu, he aims to further strengthen alliance merchants' ability to serve consumers, with the goal of turning Dazhen into a 30-billion-yuan super product.

Wu Xiangdong's ambitions go far beyond this. In the strategic plan to become a globally leading, world-class liquor company, Zhenjiu Lidu will have four super products: Dazhen, Bull Market Beer (launched this year), an ultra-low-alcohol beverage, and a women's health liquor.

When Bull Market Beer was launched in August, it not only trended on Douyin but also became the top-selling premium beer upon release. Next, Wu Xiangdong will continue to premiumize beer, introducing a top-tier beer 100 yuan more expensive than Bull Market, while building a super distribution channel for beer, similar to Dazhen's Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance.

What will the planned ultra-low-alcohol beverage be like? Wu Xiangdong gave an example: even if you drink 10 or 20 bottles, it won't register on a breathalyzer.

This year, the sudden viral success of Jinjiu online has revealed the huge potential of women's liquor. Thus, Zhenjiu Lidu's women's health liquor is equally worth anticipating.

If the past 30 years were the first phase of China's liquor marketization, with baijiu, beer, and other liquors flourishing, the next 30 years will be the era of comprehensive liquor market operations.

Internationally leading liquor groups, such as Diageo, AB InBev, Suntory, and Kirin, all operate with full categories and multiple brands. Zhenjiu Lidu, a pioneer in China's comprehensive liquor market operations, already has three major aroma types and four brands, and this year expanded into beer.

In the era of scenario-based consumption, the focus of China's liquor market will shift to deep user operations. Competition will downplay differences in categories and aroma types, emphasizing brand-consumer connections—precisely the key innovation of Dazhen and the Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance.

To adapt to this industry trend, Wu Xiangdong designed Dazhen and the Ten Thousand Merchants Alliance as the first battle. So far, it has achieved preliminary success.

Next, Dazhen will officially be on track, Bull Market Beer will gain momentum, and reserve projects will become phased priorities for Wu Xiangdong and Zhenjiu Lidu.

Through these battles, Zhenjiu Lidu has honed its team, from organizational reforms to product design and brand and marketing system management; gathered China's most skilled liquor sellers, building a "highway" for liquor sales; and attracted China's most capable liquor users. These are the keys to Zhenjiu Lidu's ability to continuously navigate cycles.