Baishan in northeast China's Jilin Province on Wednesday was named "International Mineral Water City" by the International Foundation for the Protection of Drinking Water. 

The nomination ceremony was held at the opening of China's first mineral water festival. Grant Hoskins, vice-chairman of the foundation, said that Baishan was determined by the foundation to be one of the largest mineral water resources in the world.

The foundation sent experts to assess the mineral water sources in Baishan twice since 2002. "We conclude that Baishan's natural mineral water is of extremely high quality, considerable in quantity, rich in mineral content and situated in a pristine untouched natural environment that arguably rivals any other similar region in the world," said Hoskins.

Located at the foot of Changbai Mountain, Baishan boasts a water storage totaling 8 billion cubic meters and has a forest coverage rate of 83 percent.

The city has detected nearly 200 mineral water source sites with the daily exploitation of 200,000 cubic meters. Two major Chinese drinking water companies, the Wahaha and Nongfu Spring, have set up factories in Baishan since the late 1990s. Still, the present utilization is no more than 1 percent.

The Nongfu Spring branch company based in Jingyu County is exploiting a spring called "Cuocao Spring," which has a daily gushing capacity of 35,000 tons. However, the present production capacity of the company is only 50,000 tons each year, less than that of two days of gushing of the spring, said Li Dexiang, vice-general manager of the Yung San Tong Group which registered the Nongfu Spring.

"We are interested in the mineral water resources in Baishan. Our science and technology ministry is contacting with the foundation and is looking for opportunities to cooperate with Baishan in its mineral water development," said Wayne Mapp, congressman of New Zealand who attended the festival.

Along with development plans and projects, protection of the water sources is also a priority of the Baishan government. It has been cooperating with the foundation in establishing a "Mineral Water Nature Reserve" and the "Changbai Mountain Mineral Water Sustainable Resource Development Model Area." The future development of the natural mineral water resources of Baishan will be in accordance with internationally recognized principles of sustainable environmental development, said Hoskins.

Themed "Mineral water of Baishan, the source of health," the festival will be held until Aug. 20. An international forum on mineral water protection and utilization will be held and visits will be arranged to the mineral water sites and drinking water enterprises in the city during the festival. Experts and enterprises representatives from countries like the United States, Japan, Australia, Germany and Russia will give speeches on the forum and visit the sites. Other regions approved by the foundation include the Alps and the North Caucasus.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2004)