Nongfu Spring accuses Beijing Times of defamation

Consumers wait for water extracted from Qiandao Lake at a Nongfu Spring branch in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in June. LI JUNFENG / FOR CHINA DAILY

One of China's biggest bottled-water producers has filed complaints to the top media regulator, accusing a Beijing newspaper of deliberately defaming the company.

After verbal confrontations in April and May, Nongfu Spring, a bottled-water giant based in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, said it sent workers on Monday to the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television to submit complaints that the Beijing Times had published as many as 76 "fake" stories to taint the image of the company.

"The Beijing Times intentionally and systematically published 76 negative stories about Nongfu Spring from April 10 to May 7. ... It is an unprecedented case in China's history that a news organization launched such large-scale critical coverage of one single enterprise," the company said in a statement on its Sina Weibo micro-blogging account on Monday morning.

The statement then accused the Beijing Times of making irresponsible claims that the company was following standards even laxer than those for tap water when manufacturing bottled-water products. The newspaper also fabricated remarks from the national and provincial health watchdogs to support its "biased" reports, the company said.

Nongfu further blasted the Beijing Times for never listening to it for 26 consecutive days when it issued negative reports concerning the company.

The newspaper also imposed "propagandistic violence" on the company by highlighting quotes by some industry guilds that were untrue about Nongfu's products, the statement added, saying the newspaper was deliberately smearing Nongfu.

"We have submitted evidence to the administration and hope it can thoroughly investigate the case," said the statement.