Zhongshan Customs staff is seen visiting Yueshanquan Mineral Water Co Ltd to inspect barrelled and bottled water supplied to Macao on December 17. [Photo by Miao Xiaojian]

At noon on December 17, a Zhongshan-Macao truck drove into Zhongshan Yueshanquan Mineral Water Co Ltd located deep in Wugui Mountain. After the empty barrels were unloaded, the truck set off for Macao with another full load of barrelled water.

It has been 18 years since Yueshanquan started to export mineral water to Macao. Mai Dongsheng, general manager of the company, said that Yueshanquan exports about 30,000 boxes of bottled water and 140,000 barrels of water to Macao every year.

Statistics from Zhongshan Customs show that Zhongshan currently supplies about 700,000 boxes (barrels) of 8,000 tons of high-quality mineral water to Macao every year. These figures account for about 70% of Macao's market share and are worth more than 7 million yuan.

In general, Zhongshan's mineral water exports mainly involve small bottled water. Seventy percent of the exported mineral water is licensed by Macao companies and supplied to Macao's major casinos and business circles implementing different bottle shapes and trademarks.

At present, the three mineral water enterprises that have been filed with Zhongshan Customs are all located in the deep forest of Wugui Mountain, and their water source points are all more than 100 meters underground.

Up to December 12 of this year, Zhongshan Customs has overseen 7,725 tons of packaged drinking water supplied to Macao. About 40,000 to 50,000 boxes of bottled water and 15,000 barrels of water are transported to Macao every month.