China & B.C. Water....

China Thirsty for BC Water, 

Investors Buy Up 

Sources

Updated: 2015-03-07 02:26

By WANG RU(China Daily Canada)

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015-03/07/content_19743180.htm

Bottles of imported water line a supermarket shelf in  Xuchang city, Central China's Henan province,  April 6, 2013. The premium bottled water market is  booming on concerns over water safety and as  consumers have more money.  [Photo Geng Guoqing / Asianewsphoto]

Two Chinese businessmen recently bought two 

water sources in British Columbia, Canada.

Immigration consultant Alex Liao said in an interview 

with Reuters last week that he had clients looking to 

spend at least $20 million to buy a well and set up a 

bottling plant to export mountain water to China.

"One of my clients is exporting – I cannot believe it – 

200 container loads of mineral water from B.C. to 

China every single month," Liao told Reuters. 

"Lots of people, right now, are buying wells."

Another Chinese businessman reportedly bought 

another water source in Chilliwack in BC province 

for $17 million.

"Canada is famous for its rich and clean fresh water, 

which is very cheap and suitable to develop bottled-water

 business," said Yuan Zhanling, former economic and 

commercial counselor of the Consulate General of the 

People's Republic of China in Vancouver.

"To invest in water resources, Chinese businessmen 

need to be familiar with the related laws of the Canadian 

government and pay attention to issues such as environment 

and the interests of the local people, including the 

First Nation in Canada," Yuan suggested. 

"Canada often leaves Chinese consumers an impression 

as resourceful, natural and clean, which is an advantage 

of bringing Canadian bottled water to the market with 

vast needs, especially the emerging high-end water market."

Daniel Cheng, a 33-year-old Beijinger who often 

buys foreign bottled water brands, said he hasn't

found any Canadian bottled water brands in the 

high-end supermarket in Beijing so far, but he would

love to try.

"My impression of Canada is that of a country with 

many snow-capped mountains and clean air, so I 

think the water quality must be very good, especially 

compared to China," he said.

Wang Xi, a new mother with a nine-month-old baby, 

who visited Canada in 2011, said she expected to 

have some bottled water from Canada for making 

formula milk for her baby and for her dog, a growing 

market as well.

Having 9 percent reserve of the world's fresh water, 

Canada has developed a bottled water industry and 

numerous high-quality water sources that open to 

private investors.

Canadian bottled water companies must also adhere 

to provincial regulations when taking water at the 

source. Some provincial governments are reviewing 

their water and environment regulations to improve 

water management.

In Canada, each province has the authority to 

regulate its own water standards, which are based

 on national guidelines for Canadian drinking 

water quality.

In addition, companies which are members of the 

Canadian Bottled Water Association (CBWA) must 

adhere to standards set by the industry including 

an annual unannounced plant inspection which 

involves audits of product quality and plant operations.

China has seen a fast growing bottled-water market 

in the past decade, with 20 percent increase in 

average year-by-year.

For Chinese people, buying bottled water from 

supermarket instead of drinking much cheaper tap

 water was once a luxury and unreasonable western 

life style.

However since the pockets of Chinese people are 

becoming deeper, the bottled water industry has

 boomed in the last two decades.

In 1930s, Germany built the first bottled water factory 

in east China's Qingdao province. It was the only 

bottled water producer till 1987 when China released 

standards for bottled mineral water and encouraged 

domestic production.

The competition, between different producers of 

"purified water" and "mineral water", got fierce in 1990s. 

Three to four major players and hundreds of small 

newcomers seized the domestic bottled water market.

Foreign brands such as Dannon and Nestle entered 

China at the beginning of the new century in buying 

Chinese brands or set up factories directly.

Premium brands including Evian from France, which 

entered the Chinese market in 1986, were a huge 

success.

A report published in 2011 by Sino Monitor International, 

a Beijing market research company, estimated that 

the premium bottled water market would expand at 

an annual rate of 80 percent over the next five years, 

reaching annual sales of 10 billion yuan 

($1.56 billion) by 2015.