China-based Nongfu Spring’s investment in New Hampshire sparks Cold War hysteria
- Tom Pauken II.
- May 20
- 4 min read
When Donald J. Trump delivered his speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention to run as the Party’s nominee for President, he stunned rabid anti-China Americans by suggesting he wanted Chinese manufacturers to open up new factories in the United States and to “Make in America.”
President Trump sounded out the proposal to promote more inbound foreign direct investments (FDI) to boost the US economy, while arguing that foreign-owned firms can avert high tariffs by increasing supply chains, logistics services and manufacturing by investing directly in the US market.
The concept sounded reasonable and Hangzhou-based Nongfu Spring, China’s largest bottled water company, took the advice to heart and secured a US$67 million investment to purchase land and pursue water rights in Nashua, a small city in Southern New Hampshire.
Nongfu Spring had already purchased a vacant industrial building in the city with plans to convert the facility into a water bottling plant and is expected to hire many Americans from the surrounding communities and that would revitalize economic prospects for the greater Nashua area.
Nevertheless, no good deed goes unpunished while the local media and community activists in the Granite State have swept into mass hysteria claiming that all Chinese companies must be forbidden from investing into New Hampshire.
The Cold War proponents insist that any Chinese-owned enterprise serves as a tool for espionage on behalf of the country’s ruling party, the Communist Party of China. From their perspective, they believe if anyone makes money from China that makes them a Marxist zealot.
Ironically, Nongfu Spring’s founder and chairman, Zhong Shanshan, has faced prior criticisms from Chinese nationalists after they discovered that his eldest son, Zhong Shuzi, holds permanent residency in the US and has a US Passport as a recognized citizen of the country.
It should be noted that all foreign nationals accepting US citizenship are required to pledge allegiance to the United States when they have a formal swearing in ceremony. Zhong Shuzi is widely expected to inherit his father’s wealth and most likely gain control of the company.
Hence, Zhong Shuzi, as an American businessman, believes that he should transfer more operations from Nongfu Spring in China into the US market to secure his firm foothold on the bottled water company. His actions are logical with a strong grasp of common sense.
Yet, the local media in New Hampshire think different. According to the NH Journal:
“China’s largest beverage company, Nongfu Spring, is setting up operations in Nashua after spending $67 million on an industrial building.
But the property’s location, adjacent to the Pennichuck watershed area that supplies drinking water for the city, raises questions about where Nongfu will get its H2O.
Recent developments have sparked public concern about the potential sale of Nashua’s water resources to a foreign entity. A significant real estate transaction and subsequent hiring activities have brought those issues to the forefront, prompting questions about the future of the city’s water supply.”
According to online records, in February 2025, STAG Industrial sold a 337,391-square-foot industrial property at 80 Northwest Boulevard in Nashua for a staggering $67 million, despite online assessments valuing the property at approximately $15 million. The buyer was not officially disclosed, leading to speculation about foreign involvement. However, recent job postings on LinkedIn indicate that Nongfu Spring, a major Chinese bottled water company, is actively hiring for positions at that location.”
Local activists in New Hampshire complained loudly that Nongfu Spring had the audacity to post on Linkedin that they seek to hire local residents at their proposed factory in Nashua.
Additionally, the Pennichuck Corporation Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for May 21 and it’s an open forum. The company takes charge of Nashua’s water supply.
We should anticipate plenty of fireworks with fiery anti-China activists in New Hampshire announcing on X that they will make their voices heard and do what’s necessary to protest. They have expressed concerns the company will approve the sale to Nongfu Spring.
Nonetheless, there’s a dilemma in play. If anti-China activists prevail to derail Nongfu Spring’s expansion in New Hampshire that could deliver a grave warning to other foreign-owned businesses that are considering prospective investments in the Granite State.
The message of blocking Nongfu Spring could mean that other foreign companies will not be welcomed in the Granite State even if they intend to open up factories and hire Americans. Why invest in New Hampshire is such actions incite massive public outrage from local residents?
However, Chinese companies should do better about how they invest in the US market. New Hampshire is a rural state, while most residents have rural mindsets. If Chinese firms wish to expand in the State, they must put forth greater efforts at communicating with local reporters, giving generous donations to local charities and make friendships with people there.
Nongfu Spring has failed in this regard and this explains why many people in New Hampshire have responded with an uproar to them. The Chinese company should act more transparent while doing business in the USA as well.
Accordingly, Chinese enterprises should learn crucial lessons from this experience. Meanwhile, many Americans hold irrational viewpoints about China, since they struggle to overcome the Cold War mentality.
China today is not the same as China from the 1950s to 1980s. The Chinese government has embarked on opening up and reforms under Deng Xiaoping that started in the late 1970s. Yes, China still has a long way to go in regards to supporting pro-free market measures, but there’s been remarkable progress in the country.
Americans should understand that just because a private company is owned in China that does not suggest they are blind followers of Marxism. Not all Chinese citizens are diehard communists.
(Tom Pauken II., author of US vs. China: From Trade Wars to Reciprocal Deal, AFAI Senior Fellow, Geopolitical Consultant based in Beijing, China)
X: @tmcgregochina
Footnotes
NH Journal, “Is Pennichuck Water Board Poised to Approve Selling Nashua’s Water Supply to Chinese Company?”
Nongfu Spring, “Natural and Healthy,”
CNN, “Not Chinese enough? Bottled water empire of China’s richest man is facing a nationalist boycott,”
Linkedin, “Project Engineer Nongfu Spring,”
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