A water pipeline could be built between Fujian province's coastal city Xiamen and Taiwan's offshore Jinmen county, to solve the county's ongoing water supply shortage and quality problems, according to officials.

The announcement comes a week after a delegation from Jinmen led by Li Wo-shih, the magistrate of the county, visited Xiamen to study the city's reservoir and water treatment plant.

Zhang Canmin, deputy mayor of Xiamen, said there are two possible pipeline routes being looked at to transport the water between the two - one from Weitou village in Jinjiang to Jinmen, the other from Dadeng Island in Xiamen.

A Xiamen Water Group spokesman surnamed Chen told China Daily on Wednesday that the Dadeng-Jinmen route is being seen as the preferable option, because water supply there could be more plentiful, taken direct from the Jiulong River and Xiamen's Tingxi reservoir.

The plans for that route would mean water transported through a 30-kilometer pipeline, of which about 8 km would be underwater.

It could supply 25,000 tons of water per day initially and 60,000 tons eventually.

Jinmen is just a few kilometers from Xiamen. Due to the proximity, there are close economic and cultural ties between the two places.

Wang Teng-wei, president of Jinmen Waterworks, which is in charge of the offshore county's water supply, said it is expected to face a daily water shortage of 20,000 tons by 2016.

The southern part of the county currently relies on ground water, which has to be pumped to the surface, while the northern part, which uses lake water, also had a water supply problem due to limited rainfall, Wang said.

"As more people move to Jinmen, the demand for water grows and the water shortage has become severe," Wang told China Daily in a phone interview.

"We are very glad Xiamen could help us out, but further talks between authorities are still needed before the project is finalized," he said.

sunli@chinadaily.com.cn