Drinks magnate probed over tax

SHANGHAI: Billionaire beverage entrepreneur Zong Qinghou is being investigated for allegedly evading some 300 million yuan ($42.9 million) in taxes.

The tax department of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, the home base of beverage giant Wahaha Group, launched the investigation of the company's chairman after receiving a tip-off that he might have avoided paying personal income taxes over the past decade, Caijing magazine reported yesterday.

The probe, which started in August, has made substantial progress and is nearly finished, the report said.