Opposition Emerges

Chinese citizens on the Internet opposed the deal from the start. They called for protecting “famous” Chinese brands, saying acquisitions by foreigners would lead to the “total burial” of Chinese companies.

Nearly 80 percent of 550,000 netizens who participated cast a “no” vote to the Coke-Huiyuan proposal in an online survey conducted by the popular Web site Sina.com on the same day that Huiyuan announced the deal.

According to Sina.com, other juice makers feared Coca-Cola would use the deal as well as its own brand and financial influence to monopolize the market, squeezing out rivals. Worried officials at these companies had planned to file protests with the Ministry of Commerce. They also planned to propose that to form a enterprises fund to buy Huiyuan to keep the brand in domestic hands.

China is home to a competitive juice market, with more than 4,000 juice drinks makers. Two-thirds of the products on the Chinese market are low-concentration fruit drinks, while the rest are 100 percent juices and nectars.

Similar opposition to proposed deals with foreign companies organized by netizens and companies had been seen before in China. Some sparked boycotts. As a result, the government either blocked or approved with tight strings several major mergers and acquisitions involving foreign buyers and Chinese companies, mostly in key industries such as iron and steel.

The protests against Coca-Cola were different, however, not only because Huiyuan is privately owned and operating in a highly competitive market, but also because China’s national security was never a concern for policymakers.

And Zhu refused to budge. Shortly after the announcement, at Huiyuan’s headquarters in a Beijing suburb, he briefed the press on the reason for his decision to sell to Coca-Cola. “A business should be raised like a son but sold like a sow,” he said.