Zhong Shanshan needs to find new growth drivers for his business empire.

Zhong Shanshan's 3.4 billion yuan investment in the "first recombinant collagen protein stock" has made new progress.

On September 19, Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) listed company Jinbo Biotechnology announced that its application for issuing shares to specific targets has been accepted.

The specific issuing target refers to Nongsheng Tang Co., Ltd. ("Nongsheng Tang"). Nongsheng Tang is a company personally controlled by Zhong Shanshan and serves as the parent company of listed company NONGFU SPRING.

According to reports, Jinbo Biotechnology's fundraising amount reaches 2 billion yuan, with funds to be used for the human-derived collagen protein FAST database and product development platform, as well as supplementing working capital. This is also the largest cash private placement plan by fundraising amount in BSE history to date.

Additionally, Zhong Shanshan purchased 5.7533 million shares held by Jinbo Biotechnology's actual controller Yang Xia for approximately 1.4 billion yuan through Jiushi Management Consulting (Hangzhou) Partnership, a company under Nongsheng Tang. If all transactions are completed, Zhong Shanshan will hold a combined 10.58% stake in Jinbo Biotechnology through his companies, becoming Jinbo Biotechnology's second-largest shareholder.

This is also an important investment by Zhong Shanshan in the healthcare sector this year. Why would he bet heavily on the recombinant collagen protein field?

Public information shows that Jinbo Biotechnology is a leading enterprise in domestic recombinant humanized collagen protein. Moreover, all three recombinant collagen protein Class III certificates (Class III medical device registration certificates, commonly referred to as "Class III device certificates") currently available in China belong to Jinbo Biotechnology.

A senior industry insider explained that the threshold for enterprises to obtain Class III device certificates is very high, "requiring extensive clinical validation before finally obtaining approval from the National Medical Products Administration for Class III medical device registration certificates. The entire process involves extremely high R&D costs." In her view, the Class III medical device certificates obtained by Jinbo Biotechnology are equivalent to industry "benchmarks."

Recombinant collagen protein is undoubtedly a hot trend pursued by biotech companies today, known as the "golden track." According to Frost & Sullivan predictions, China's recombinant collagen protein market will grow from 58.57 billion yuan in 2025 to 219.38 billion yuan in 2030 over the next five years, with a compound annual growth rate approaching 45%.

Meanwhile, Zhong Shanshan also needs to find new growth points for his business empire.

Having topped China's richest person list multiple times, Zhong Shanshan's wealth primarily comes from two listed companies under his control: NONGFU SPRING and Wantai BioPharm. After 2020, with the successive listings of Wantai BioPharm and NONGFU SPRING, his net worth soared.

However, in recent years, both companies have faced certain growth bottlenecks—NONGFU SPRING has been affected by public opinion since last year, with both brand and business suffering certain impacts; Wantai BioPharm's main business, domestic bivalent HPV vaccine (used to reduce cervical cancer infection risks), has also been affected by market conditions, with revenue declining consecutively from 11.185 billion yuan in 2022 to 2.245 billion yuan in 2024.

At this stage, Jinbo Biotechnology has become the next "goldmine" targeted by Zhong Shanshan.

**Searching for the Next "NONGFU SPRING"?**

Jinbo Biotechnology was founded by Shanxi native Yang Xia in 2008, specializing in the research, development, production, and application of recombinant humanized collagen protein, with products covering medical devices, functional skincare products, and antiviral fields.

A senior industry insider noted that Jinbo Biotechnology, as the "first recombinant collagen protein stock," has strong overall capabilities and R&D capacity.

In April this year, Jinbo Biotechnology's independently developed and produced world's first "injectable recombinant Type III humanized collagen protein gel" officially received approval for market launch from the National Medical Products Administration.

According to an open-source securities research report, this is the third Class III implantable medical device independently developed and produced by Jinbo Biotechnology using the novel biomaterial—recombinant humanized collagen protein—following "recombinant Type III humanized collagen protein freeze-dried fiber" and "injectable recombinant Type III humanized collagen protein solution," marking another major technological breakthrough in the biomaterials field.

Recombinant collagen protein has received significant attention in recent years. Bai Yunhu, a senior beauty commentator and founder of Meiyun Space e-commerce, explained that recombinant collagen protein is core because it involves anti-aging applications and is also one of the effective ingredients in cosmetic skincare tracks. With aging demographics and increasing consumer demand for anti-aging, demand for collagen protein products is growing rapidly.

The aforementioned senior industry insider holds similar views. In her opinion, the recombinant collagen protein track is hot not only due to industrial-level promotion but also because it meets current consumer anti-aging needs. According to her observations, it's not that collagen protein became popular, but rather consumers are paying more attention to anti-aging, "among new materials in the anti-aging field, recombinant collagen protein may be the most aligned with consumer needs."

From an investment perspective, recombinant collagen protein is also an extremely profitable track.

Jinbo Biotechnology's 2024 annual report shows a gross margin as high as 92%, with its core medical device business (mainly recombinant collagen protein injection products) achieving a gross margin of 95.03%. In 2024, Jinbo Biotechnology recorded revenue of 1.443 billion yuan and net profit of 732 million yuan.

Zhong Shanshan's past investment style is perceived by outsiders as favoring high-barrier, high-margin businesses. High margins are also a major characteristic of his companies' operations—in recent years, NONGFU SPRING's gross margin has maintained around 60%; Wantai BioPharm's gross margin during its 2022 peak also reached 90%.

"Winning Through Patience: Zhong Shanshan's Long-term Business Philosophy" once wrote that during his early entrepreneurial period, Zhong Shanshan ran newspapers and grew mushrooms, but both ventures failed. Later, he summarized his experience: "For a small enterprise to develop and grow, the types it operates must have uniqueness and must be highly profitable, because there's no scale effect for gradual accumulation."

**Zhong Shanshan's Healthcare Business**

Beyond his identity as NONGFU SPRING's founder, what receives little external attention is the healthcare business "empire" Zhong Shanshan has built over the years—spanning health supplements, biopharmaceuticals, beverages, food, skincare products, agriculture, and more, with continuously expanding territory.

According to business registration data, Nongsheng Tang owns companies including NONGFU SPRING Co., Ltd., Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Co., Ltd., and Zhejiang Nongsheng Tang Natural Medicine Research Institute Co., Ltd. Statistics show it has 32 direct external investments and as many as 282 indirect external investments.

Actually, Zhong Shanshan made his first fortune from the health supplement business when he started his career.

In 1993, Zhong Shanshan founded Nongsheng Tang, launching Nongsheng Tang turtle and soft-shell turtle pills, which immediately caused a strong market response and secured a place among 1990s health supplement brands. Zhong Shanshan entered the health supplement industry three years before founding NONGFU SPRING.

Currently, Nongsheng Tang still has numerous health supplements for sale. Major e-commerce platforms feature Nongsheng Tang flagship stores, with products covering vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium tablets, protein powder, and other health products. Meanwhile, Nongsheng Tang products have also entered multiple offline sales channels.

It can be said that Zhong Shanshan has been focusing on healthcare layout over the years. While outsiders consider him to be playing cross-industry games, he doesn't see it that way.

In 2017, Nongsheng Tang entered the cosmetics track, launching the Nongsheng Tang cosmetics brand. At that time, facing external questions about the company's cross-industry expansion, Zhong Shanshan responded, "From NONGFU SPRING's perspective, it's cross-industry, but from Nongsheng Tang's perspective, there's no cross-industry involvement, we've just entered a new field... We have many accumulations in other fields, and this accumulation process enables you to quickly enter a new field."

Besides personally engaging in business operations, Zhong Shanshan is also adept at using capital power to layout related industries.

In 2001, Zhong Shanshan spent 17.1 million yuan to acquire a 95% stake in Wantai BioPharm, becoming its actual controller. After nearly 20 years of cultivation, in 2020, Wantai BioPharm and NONGFU SPRING successively entered capital markets, becoming major sources of Zhong Shanshan's wealth. In recent years, Zhong Shanshan has also entered the private equity field, making some forward-looking investments through funds under his control.

This time, Zhong Shanshan's strategic investment in Jinbo Biotechnology is viewed by Bai Yunhu as reasonable strategic positioning. "Zhong Shanshan has always invested in biopharmaceuticals and other fields, and has also invested in cosmetics and skincare tracks. Therefore, by investing in Jinbo Biotechnology, he can extend into upstream areas like raw materials in the industry chain."

The recombinant collagen protein R&D capabilities possessed by Jinbo Biotechnology may create synergies with multiple businesses under Nongsheng Tang, including pharmaceuticals, health supplements, and skincare products.

Regarding the purpose of bilateral strategic cooperation, Jinbo Biotechnology stated in its announcement: Nongsheng Tang possesses a strong R&D system, and through R&D cooperation with Nongsheng Tang, it can help accelerate the company's R&D speed, broaden product types, and accelerate the application transformation of the company's collagen protein biomaterials in skincare products, food, pharmaceuticals, and other fields.

Currently, Jinbo Biotechnology's revenue structure is relatively single, mainly relying on "Weiyimei" products targeting medical aesthetics institutions and other clinical endpoints. According to the aforementioned senior industry insider, Jinbo Biotechnology may have more new product matrices in the future. She explained that collagen protein applications extend beyond medical aesthetics and skincare products to health supplements and oral beverages, with similar international products having precedent.