Hong Kong bottled water scandal
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 Water bottle of Xin Le Guan Yin Shan | |
| Date | August 2025 |
|---|---|
| Location | Hong Kong |
| Type | Procurement oversight |
| Arrests | 2 |
| Charges | Fraud |
The Hong Kong bottled water scandal is a procurement scandal of the Hong Kong government, after a couple was found to have misled the government into entering a fraudulent contract to supply bottled water from mainland China to government offices in 2025. It eroded public confidence in the integrity of the government's procurement procedures, leading to the first public apology from an official in six years.
The Government Logistics Department (GLD) conducted an open tender in March 2025 to select suppliers of bottled drinking water for government departments after the expiry of the original contracts. Three months later, the GLD awarded a three-year contract to Xin Ding Xin Trade Co. Limited (鑫鼎鑫商貿有限公司; hereafter "XDX") for supplying "Xin Le Guan Yin Shan" (鑫樂觀音山) water, manufactured by Robust (Guangdong) Drinking Water's Guangzhou branch (乐百氏(广东)饮用水有限公司), to offices on Hong Kong Island and outlying islands starting from late June. "Happy" water made by Dongguan Dongwa Drinking Water Co. Limited was selected to supply offices in New Territories and Lantau Island, while "COOL" water, by tycoon Li Ka-shing's local retailer AS Watson, would be provided in Kowloon offices.[1][2] The contract took effect on 23 June, and was publicly announced in late July.[3] The government claimed that the new contracts would save taxpayers HK$16 million a year.[4]
It was the first time that government contracts for the provision of drinking water were awarded to non-local brands, immediately drawing attention and concerns from the public.[3] Out of the two successful mainland Chinese water bids, Robust was named by Chinese national and provincial authorities in 2017 for health issues, including a breach of the microbiological limit and discovery of bromate in the sample. Many civil servants across Hong Kong chose to buy bottled water locally to avoid drinking the government-provided water as a result.[5][2]
Amidst growing safety concerns, Chief Executive John Lee confirmed that the bottled water complied with international standards and expressed his confidence in the tendering system, which he said was "effectively and stringently enforced" and requires independent certification for water quality. Lee said authorities would conduct random inspections as the government attached much importance to safety, and the contract would be immediately terminated if standards were not met.[6][4]
Contract terminated
Since the award of tender XDX repeatedly failed to comply with the contract, including producing non-compliant carboy labels. Multiple departments also complained delayed delivery by XDX and other poor performances, while XDX failed to pay the contract deposit by the deadline.
In early August, XDX requested to change the water from "Xin Le" by Robust to "Happy" by Dongwa, claiming to be as a result of heavy rain. The GLD approved the change on 11 August while pending verification for the validity of the test reports.[7]:13 On the same day, Robust wrote to the GLD denying they had provided water to the government, nor had they authorised any party to do so. Robust also confirmed that Xin Ding Xin was not affiliated with them and the two sides have no business dealings.[8][7]:5 Hong Kong Standards and Testing Centre, from which XDX's test report claimed to be, confirmed to the government on 12 August that they did not issue such reports.[7]:14 After GLD's meetings with XDX and Robust,[7]:5 the government announced on 16 August through a press release that they had "partially terminated" the HK$52.9 million contract with Xin Ding Xin after "having received information on XDX's business operation recently" and was "not satisfied that XDX would still be capable of performing the contract". The government also arranged for AS Watson to supply bottled drinking water temporarily.[9]
| Government departments | Supply / Services | Value (HK$) |
|---|---|---|
| Government Logistics Dept. | Drinking water | 52.9 million |
| Bleach | 0.7 million | |
| 1 million | ||
| 0.2 million | ||
| Drainage Services Dept. | Chemicals | 6 million |
| Fire Services Dept. | Data entry | 5 million |
The government eventually terminated six contracts on 20 August following an order from the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, including the bottled water and two contracts with the Drainage Services Department and the Fire Services Department. The authorities had only paid HK$2,268[11] to XDX under a 30-day payment period in the tender terms,[12] and is entitled to deduct the deposit of around HK$1 million under the water supply contract to recover its losses. Officials added they will consider recovering losses for other contracts.[13]
Reaction
The scandal immediately caused widespread concerns, seriously hampered the public confidence and integrity of government's procurement procedures, raising questions on government's ability to vet bidders.
A day after the contract was halted, the treasury minister Christopher Hui set up a task force to review the government’s procurement regime. The Financial Services and Treasury Bureau led by Hui also invited the Audit Commission to review the tender procedure and identify any negligence or deficiencies.[14] Hui acknowledged the "inadequacies" by the government in the "problematic" purchase and pledged to study ways to improve the procedures after the review.[15] Interim investigation results would be issued in three months and focused on potential "red flags" such as due diligence, contract management, and quality control.[11]
The Government Logistics Department was "tasked with taking up the main responsibility". After days of remaining silent and refusing to comment on the matter,[16] Carlson Chan Ka-shun, Director of the GLD who was expected to retire soon,[17] apologised to the public on behalf of the department on 21 August, five days after the scandal unraveled. He admitted that the department had failed to detect the fraudulent and improper elements such as forged documents when examining the returned tender.[11] It was the first time since 2019 anti-extradition bill protests that a government official made a public apology.[18]
I understand that this incident, this hoax, has raised huge public concerns over government procurement and caused concern for our colleagues in the government about the water supply. In this respect, we feel that there were indeed inadequacies in our procedures and I would like to apologise to everyone on behalf of the Government Logistics Department.
— Carlson Chan
I am extremely concerned about the Logistics Department’s failure to do its job. While the successful bidder provided false information, I am deeply disappointed that this happened in a professional department that handles procurement every day.
John Lee also blamed the GLD for the oversight and said he was "deeply disappointed". Lee said this blunder reflected the necessity of government staff to improve cautiousness, and pledged to identify shortcomings and loopholes in the procurement regime as soon as possible. However, no officials directly commented on whether any official had to take responsibility.[19]
The incident further strengthened distrust of mainland Chinese food and drinks in Hong Kong society.[1] Christopher Hui insisted that both mainland Chinese and Hong Kong brands met the standards without difference in quality.[19]
The government announced in November that Carlson Chan, who has then retired from the civil service, would not appear in the presentation ceremony to receive his Silver Bauhinia Star pending the conclusion of the disciplinary probe.[20]