Listening Flower Wine Exposed by CCTV 315, Revenue Doubled in 2025

Sina Finance’s “Liquor Price Insider” Launches with a Bang: Know the True Market Prices of Famous Baijiu Brands

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The CCTV March 15 Gala has always been a “mirror” reflecting consumer chaos, and a “life and death line” for corporate brands. Products and companies exposed on the program often face reputation collapse, halving of sales, or delisting and shutdowns—truly “life or death.”

However, Qinghai Spring (600381.SH, now *ST Spring (rights protection))'s core product, Tinghua Liquor, broke this rule: after being heavily exposed on March 15, 2024, it faced brief pressure, but in 2025, its liquor segment revenue doubled against the trend, regaining its pre-exposure scale and staging a highly controversial performance turnaround.

Behind this abnormal recovery are either unresolved issues of false advertising or new capital operation strategies. The seemingly impressive revenue figures conceal the company’s struggle to maintain its shell and reflect a deep game between market regulation and corporate compliance.

March 15 Exposure

On March 15, 2024, CCTV’s March 15 Gala targeted the high-end Baijiu brand Tinghua Liquor, revealing its false advertising and illegal marketing practices.

As a key product developed by Qinghai Spring, Tinghua Liquor was branded as a “high-end business liquor,” with standard bottles priced at 5,860 yuan and premium bottles up to 58,600 yuan. Its rapid popularity was driven by exaggerated claims of health benefits.

The exposure focused on two main violations: first, illegal claims of medical efficacy, with sales staff and promotional materials touting Tinghua Liquor as capable of boosting immunity, improving sleep, regulating sexual function, protecting cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health, and aiding blood pressure reduction—direct violations of the Food Safety Law and Advertising Law, which prohibit food ads from implying disease prevention or treatment functions.

Second, patent falsehoods misled consumers. The company claimed the product had international patents, but only submitted patent applications that had not been granted. The so-called “high-tech cooling agents” were merely ordinary mint extracts, involving false advertising and unfair competition.

Jintong News noted that on the night of the exposure, major e-commerce platforms quickly removed all Tinghua Liquor products. Market regulators in multiple regions launched investigations, recording the company’s operational data and promotional materials. Under normal circumstances, such a major negative public opinion would likely force the product out of the market entirely, and the parent company Qinghai Spring’s liquor business would be in dire straits.

Performance Bottoming Out and Strong Rebound

As a listed company on the A-share market, Qinghai Spring’s financial data is fully transparent. The performance of its liquor segment (mainly Tinghua Liquor and Duhua Liquor) is clear, and the impact of the March 15 exposure is vividly reflected in the 2024 financial report.

The financial report shows that in 2024, Qinghai Spring’s liquor segment achieved revenue of 46.41 million yuan, a sharp decline of 44.05% year-on-year, nearly halving.

Compared to its peak before the exposure, the gap is even more pronounced: in 2022, the company’s liquor revenue approached 100 million yuan, reaching 93.64 million yuan; in 2023, it declined but remained within a reasonable range. After the public scandal erupted, Qinghai Spring was forced to suspend product operations and cooperate with regulatory investigations until early May 2024, which severely disrupted its sales rhythm and became a core weakness dragging down overall performance.

Coupled with years of continuous losses, Qinghai Spring reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of 199 million yuan in 2024, with a non-recurring loss of 162 million yuan, marking five consecutive years of losses with total accumulated losses exceeding 1.3 billion yuan.

Due to negative net profit and revenue below 300 million yuan after non-recurring items, the company’s stock was warned of delisting risk, and it was renamed *ST Spring, increasing pressure to maintain its listing.

Just as the market generally believed Tinghua Liquor would fade from view, Qinghai Spring quietly made a comeback, with its liquor business experiencing a dramatic reversal.

Jintong News observed that in the third quarter of 2025, the company’s liquor segment revenue doubled, completely shaking off the impact of the March 15 exposure and returning to pre-exposure levels.

Specifically, in the first half of 2025, Qinghai Spring’s liquor revenue reached 79.72 million yuan, a 59.44% increase year-on-year; in the third quarter, the growth continued, with revenue doubling compared to the same period in 2024, surpassing the entire 2024 annual liquor revenue and nearly matching the peak levels of 2022-2023.

This means that in just over a year, Tinghua Liquor achieved a turnaround from “public opinion damage” to “performance recovery,” breaking the industry norm of products being unable to recover after exposure.

To promote the recovery of its liquor business, Qinghai Spring gradually resumed advertising and offline tasting events, expanded dealer channels, and optimized product pricing strategies, downplaying the “medical” label. Whether this is a genuine correction or a more covert approach remains to be seen.

Regulatory Questions Persist

On January 29, 2026, Qinghai Spring released its 2025 performance forecast, showing promising core data: expected annual revenue of 342.7 million to 371.4 million yuan, with net profit attributable to shareholders of about -44 million to -59.5 million yuan, and non-recurring profit also negative. The year-end net assets remained positive, but profitability had not improved.

However, this borderline performance forecast did not dispel market and regulatory concerns. The Shanghai Stock Exchange issued regulatory letters, raising three core issues that threaten the company’s survival.

The main concerns are: first, doubts about revenue authenticity. Regulators are scrutinizing whether the liquor segment’s revenue reflects genuine business activity, suspecting related-party transactions and inflated income to improve performance and avoid delisting.

Second, doubts about compliance in revenue deductions. Under new delisting rules, companies must exclude income unrelated to core business or lacking commercial substance. Regulators require clarification of the standards for deducting liquor revenue to prevent illegal evasion of delisting.

Third, risks of capital occupation. Financial reports show high prepayments and investments in related party Yibin Tinghua Liquor Trading Co., Ltd., raising concerns about funds being occupied or impaired, further eroding asset quality.

Currently, Qinghai Spring has announced a delay in responding to the regulatory letter regarding its 2025 forecast, citing the need to “ensure information disclosure is true, accurate, and complete.”

After the CCTV March 15 exposure, Tinghua Liquor’s revenue doubled. Is this a corporate comeback or another falsehood? The answer will likely be revealed soon.