"Firefighting-Style" Leadership Change, Yingjia Tribute Liquor Faces Mid-Life Crisis

Why is AI · Yingjia Tribute Liquor Rebounding in Sales Growth After Slowing Down?

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Introduction: The core management rights have always been held by the old team familiar with the traditional system, and there has been no sign of management “renewal.”

Personnel changes happen, and exchanges become history. This phrase applies uniquely to Yingjia Tribute Liquor (603198.SH), adding a special flavor.

On March 11, Yingjia Tribute Liquor announced that General Manager Qin Hai resigned due to work adjustments, and the board approved Yang Zhaobing as the new general manager.

This leadership change is hardly a smooth organizational iteration.

Qin Hai’s term was supposed to last until September 2026, but he stepped down early. The successor is not an outsider but Yang Zhaobing, who has held multiple positions with Qin Hai over the years.

Image source: Yingjia Tribute Liquor Announcement

Qin Hai and Yang Zhaobing are not new to role rotations.

Around 2016, Qin Hai served as the general manager of the listed company, while Yang Zhaobing was the general manager of Yingjia Liquor’s sales company. In 2018, Qin Hai became Vice President of Yingjia Group and General Manager of Anhui Yingjia Mountain Spring; Yang Zhaobing took over as General Manager of the listed company and also served as General Manager of Yingjia Liquor’s sales company. In 2023, after a board reshuffle, Qin Hai returned as General Manager, and Yang Zhaobing was appointed Deputy General Manager but retained his key role as General Manager of the sales company. Until March this year, Yang Zhaobing returned to the General Manager position again.

Source: Yingjia Tribute Liquor Announcement

Qin Hai is familiar with group operations and corporate governance, while Yang Zhaobing is a seasoned sales veteran with deep market experience, especially in channel management and terminal promotion. During his tenure as General Manager from 2018 to 2023, Yingjia Tribute Liquor’s revenue doubled from around 3 billion yuan to over 6 billion yuan, marking a significant scale leap.

Now, Yang Zhaobing is back in charge. When growth slows, brands face pressure, and channels need reassurance, Yingjia is returning management rights to the most familiar sales system veteran, who is also best at dealing with distributors.

“Stabilize sales, channels, and prices” has been prioritized over “organizational innovation and long-term storytelling.” In other words, Yingjia’s strategic judgment is to prioritize defense.

Currently, the most urgent issues are highly specific and require strong execution: someone who can directly penetrate markets, stabilize morale, and handle immediate problems.

Yingjia Tribute Liquor’s operational data can no longer be casually described as “phase fluctuations.”

In the first three quarters of 2025, Yingjia’s revenue was 4.516 billion yuan, down 18.09% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent was 1.511 billion yuan, down 24.67%, with four consecutive quarters of decline.

For a regional liquor company that previously relied on expansion of mid-to-high-end products and key single items for rapid growth, short-term emotional disturbances aside, there is clear pressure across demand, channels, and brand perception.

The decline is just a numerical result. What truly makes the company nervous is whether distributors dare to continue payments, whether terminals are willing to promote core products, and whether the key price band can remain stable.

In the first three quarters, Yingjia’s cash flow from operating activities was 789 million yuan, down 38.13% year-on-year; contract liabilities decreased from 578 million yuan at the start of the year to 482 million yuan.

The trademarks and names of Baijiu are the convergence point of brand assets, consumer memory, and channel profits.

Represented by the “Dongzang” series, mid-to-high-end Baijiu accounts for over 60% of total revenue and is the core asset of Yingjia’s growth over the past decade. “Dongzang” not only symbolizes high-end and mid-to-high-end upgrades but also bears the company’s profits and brand potential.

Over the years, Yingjia has continuously invested in “Dongzang,” from product naming and terminal display to brand communication. “Dongzang” has become the most direct recognition entry point for consumers regarding the mid-to-high-end positioning.

If such a product line encounters brand connection issues, it can quickly impact the overall price system and channel confidence.

Regarding “Eco Dongzang” trademarks, Yingjia engaged in a prolonged legal battle with Linshui Distillery in the Lu’an region, which ended with Yingjia’s defeat. In 2024, the State Intellectual Property Office invalidated Yingjia’s “Eco Dongzang” series trademarks, and subsequent administrative lawsuits were dismissed. This ruling forced the renaming of well-known market products “Dong 6” and “Dong 9” to “Gong 6” and “Gong 9.”

For Yingjia, this is not only a direct loss of hundreds of millions of inventory packages but also a sudden blow to ten years of brand assets. The coexistence of “Dongzang,” “Yingjia,” and “Gong Liquor” packaging on the market has caused consumer confusion, mistaken identity, and even led some terminals to face old inventory backlog.

Now, with “Dongzang” fading from the main packaging and returning overnight to the “Gong Liquor” parent brand, Yingjia faces a different challenge: it is no longer operating in its previously relatively exclusive expression space but must re-enter the more crowded, highly competitive “Gong Liquor” arena.

Because in consumers’ minds, the strong association between “Gong Liquor” and Yingjia Tribute’s old rival, Gujinggong, is hard to break.

Gujinggong occupies the high ground of “China’s No.1 Tribute Liquor” in the historical narrative. Its core product, the “Year-Old Original Pulp” series, generates over 18 billion yuan annually, covering all price segments from affordable banquet wines to mid-to-high-end business occasions, with a domestic revenue of about 14 billion yuan in 2024—nearly 2.8 times Yingjia’s.

Returning from “Dongzang” to “Gong Liquor,” Yingjia must break through the long-held mental dominance of its competitor.

If it cannot quickly establish new value propositions for “Gong 6” and “Gong 9,” Yingjia’s share in the core 100-300 yuan price range could be further eroded by competitors within the province and even nationally renowned brands.

Addressing old inventory, rapidly rolling out new packaging at terminals, restoring distributor acceptance of rebranded products, explaining the relationship between “Dong 6” and “Gong 6,” and ending the chaotic coexistence of three packaging types are complex issues that cannot be handled solely by a management-focused general manager. They require an authoritative veteran within the sales system, familiar with channel language, capable of direct market coordination, to stabilize the situation in the shortest possible time.

The Anhui Baijiu market has long been one of the most typical battlegrounds of stock competition nationwide, with high brand density, mature pricing tiers, and strong local enterprise competitiveness.

Gujinggong’s dominant position is quite stable; Licor Water is still adjusting and recovering; Jinzhi Seed, supported by state-owned and China Resources, is seeking new momentum. Yingjia, meanwhile, is caught in a position of both defending provincial market share and attempting outward expansion.

At the same time, national famous brands continue to penetrate into provincial markets, making banquet, business, and casual drinking scenes increasingly crowded.

In this environment, maintaining growth is becoming more difficult for Yingjia.

Regional liquor companies often fall into the illusion that as long as core products succeed and channels are diligent, scale will keep climbing. But recent industry changes show that the marginal effectiveness of this expansion logic has significantly diminished.

High-end Baijiu still benefits from brand monopoly support; mass-market products survive through extreme cost-performance and high turnover; the most challenging are the mid-to-high-end and regional leaders’ reliance on the middle price segment.

This segment, once driven by consumption upgrades and expanding local business activities, now faces dual pressures: premium brands descending from the top and low-priced products like scattered liquor and light-flavor Baijiu diverting market share.

Previously, Yingjia’s “Dongzang” series was precisely in this critical segment, where brand power was essential for commanding premium prices. Therefore, any shake-up in trademarks or naming systems causes a bigger impact than on ordinary products.

Seasoned sales veterans may help stabilize the market temporarily, but that does not necessarily mean the company has found the next phase of growth.

After the growth dividend diminishes, the real challenge for regional liquor companies is how to redefine brand assets, rebuild channel trust, and restore organizational adaptability.

Convincing consumers of the new value behind the brand and ensuring channels see this as sustainable brand rebuilding is far more difficult than changing leadership.

For years, Yingjia’s core management rights have always been held by a highly familiar old team from the traditional system. True “renewal” in management remains to be seen.

The Baijiu industry, especially regional companies, has long been characterized by an organizational inertia of “boss—old officials—sales army,” which is highly efficient during growth periods. But deep industry changes also reveal limitations: problem-solving often reverts to old experiences, paths, and personnel rather than creating new brand language, channel models, or organizational mechanisms.

In stable times, this structure helps streamline decision-making and ensure market execution; but during industry adjustments and shifts in growth logic, it tends to rely more on past experience than on proactive innovation.

Moreover, brand assets in Baijiu are built on a foundation of legal rights and consumer recognition—both of which are fragile and resilient. Many regional companies have historically based growth narratives on a successful flagship series; as long as product expansion goes smoothly, organizational stability and strategic clarity seem assured.

Gujinggong’s “Year-Old Original Pulp,” Licor Water’s “Harmonious Fragrance,” Yanghe’s early “Mild and Soft” branding—all these successes have largely depended on symbols like “Eco Dongzang” to support brand upgrades.

For regional companies, such symbols are crucial for quick consumer recognition amid crowded shelves and for channel clarity in conveying value.

But when flagship series face external shocks, the company’s true resilience is immediately tested, and the entire brand narrative may need rewriting.

Under Yang Zhaobing’s leadership, Yingjia Tribute Liquor will need to answer: after “Dongzang,” what core advantages can be consolidated and created to continue supporting its position in the Huizhou liquor landscape?