[6] [7] In 2021, WH Group ranked 3rd on FBIF's Top 100 Chinese Food & Beverage Companies list.

[6] In 1992, sausage sales fueled the expansion of the company which in turn resulted in investors from six countries founding Shuanghui International.

The company was valued at $1.3 billion, and controlled more than 50% of China's high-temperature processed meat market at that time.

[11] That year, Luohe government sold its share of Shuanghui to a joint venture of Goldman Sachs and private equity firm CDH Investments.

[13] Goldman Sachs later sold most of its share, reportedly for a large profit,[2] but owned 5.2% of the company as of May 2013.

[2] Before it was finalized, the deal had to be approved by Smithfield shareholders and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

[3] Smithfield's existing management team would remain intact and no major changes to its workforce would occur.

[3] In July 2013, Shuanghui announced its plan to list Smithfield on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after completing the takeover.

[18] The new name is derived from the initials of "Wanzhou Holdings," where the Chinese characters "wan" and "zhou" connote eternity and continents, respectively.

The reason for the transaction given by CEO Larry Pope, was to improve Smithfield's balance sheet and allow cash reserves for strategic acquisitions aligning with long-term goals.

Smithfield also acquired hog farms in Snowflake, Arizona with land tax $75,000 a year, California, and Wyoming as part of the deal.

[23] In late March 2020, WH Group announced that the spread of COVID-19 had a very limited impact on its operations and sales in the US and China.