China’s bottled water industry eyes up the Tibetan plateau

Tibet is encouraging companies to tap the Himalayan glaciers for premium drinking water, but the environmental stakes are high

In the last two decades China has become the world's largest bottled water consumer and a major producer. With per capita consumption 19% lower than global average, the market is expected to continue to grow.

Although it currently makes up a small proportion of China's annual bottled water production, water from Tibet's mountain glaciers is seen as the new point of growth for China's booming bottled water industry.