On August 21, Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corporation (Tingyi) announced that the company surpassed Wahaha Group Co. Ltd (Wahaha) in mineral water sales as of this June and now ranks first in terms of market presence. They hold 17.3 percent of the entire mineral water market shares.

An insider commented that the Wahaha-Danone joint venture adopted the strategy of cutting its mineral water business, only to lead to decline in its market presence. According to market research covering January to June, Tingyi spent 910,000 yuan (US$119,722) on publicity while Wahaha only spent 420,000 yuan (US$55,256).

An analyst also said that the well-known conflict between Wahaha and Danone also made it impossible for Wahaha to effectively focus on the severely competitive mineral water market. Wahaha distributors did not think that the company paid enough attention to its mineral water business.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://www.china-cbn.com/s/n/000004/20070822/020000053559.shtml).

(China.org.cn August 22, 2007)