"Foreign brands like Evian have been in the Chinese market for more than 20 years, so they already enjoy a high level of brand loyalty," said Xiao.

"In the short run it will be difficult to dislodge foreign brands from dominating the market," he said.

Yet Chinese bottlers believe they can take away market share by offering quality products at reduced prices.

"Each half-liter bottle of Kunlun Mountains Natural Mineral Water is priced at five yuan, compared to the average price of 10 yuan for foreign brands," said Yang Aixing, general marketing manager of JDB Group.

"Based on our high quality and reasonable prices, we believe Chinese consumers will warmly welcome our domestically made premium drinking water," he said.

Several bottlers have also sought to find other marketing channels to promote their premium brands.

For example, Kunlun Mountains Natural Mineral Water has been chosen as the official drinking water of Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games.

Tibet Glacier Mineral Water has entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Railways to provide 5100 Tibet Spring Water free of charge on its bullet trains around China. Retailers and consumers are mixed on whether the public will switch to Chinese premium brands.

"Few consumers ask about domestic brands of premium water," said a saleswoman at a Beijing Carrefour supermarket, who asked to be referred to only by her surname, Xu.

"In most cases, consumers directly grab a box of Evian, Perrier or other foreign brands of mineral water without even looking at the domestic brands," she said.

Qin Wei, a 25-year-old white-collar worker at a high-tech company in Beijing, said, "I am pursuing a high-quality lifestyle, so I'd like to buy high-quality water. So, if Chinese premium brands are priced at around 3 yuan, I will consider buying then because I usually consume three bottles of water a day."