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The city’s Court of Appeal upheld two prior orders preventing her from withdrawing funds from the account and requiring her to disclose detailed information about transactions involving the account, Bloomberg reported, citing a judgment handed down Tuesday.

The court also rejected Kelly’s request for more time to file her appeal and ordered her and the other defendant to pay HK$250,000 (US$31,880) in legal costs to the plaintiffs.

The eldest daughter of the Chinese beverage giant’s billionaire founder Zong Qinghou had applied for permission to challenge the preservation and disclosure orders late last year, seeking to overturn both and dismiss the originating summons. The orders were originally granted by a High Court judge months earlier.

With the latest ruling, the assets remain frozen while a separate inheritance lawsuit continues, in which three of Zong’s extramarital children are demanding over US$2 billion in trust assets they say their father had promised them before his death in February 2024.

The trio — Jacky, Jessie and Jerry Zong — allege that Zong had instructed Kelly to establish three offshore trusts for them, each worth US$700 million. They claim she failed to do so and instead withdrew more than US$6 million from the HSBC account, which was the main source of funds for the trusts.

They presented several documents during court hearings last August, including handwritten instructions by Zong and a power of attorney that instructed Kelly to set up the trusts. They also provided an agreement signed by all four siblings shortly after Zong’s death acknowledging the arrangements, according to Caixin Global.

For the appeal, Kelly’s lawyers had raised five grounds, including that the plaintiffs lacked a strong proprietary claim to the HSBC account assets, that there was no risk the funds would be dissipated, and that the previous judge had failed to identify the plaintiffs’ interests in the account.

All five grounds were rejected. Nonetheless, Kelly still has the option of making a final attempt at the Court of Final Appeal.

Wahaha was founded in 1987 by the late Zong, who spent nearly four decades growing it from a school shop to one of China’s largest beverage companies. Zong was once the country’s richest man and widely seen as a devoted family man, according to the South China Morning Post.

Before Zong’s other children were revealed, Kelly was believed to be his only child and heiress. The inheritance dispute has drawn public attention in China and fueled concerns over succession planning among the country’s private business empires.

Nicknamed the “Princess of Wahaha,” Kelly inherited a 29% stake in the Hangzhou Wahaha Group and also took charge of the business after Zong’s death.

Her tenure, however, was marked by struggles over control. She briefly stepped down in 2024 before returning as chairwoman and general manager after a shareholder dispute was resolved.

She resigned from both positions again late last year and now runs another beverage and packaging company, Hongsheng Group. Forbes estimates her net worth at US$7.8 billion.