Urban Wastewater Treatment Offers Chances for Overseas Business

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 29, 2001

Urban Wastewater Treatment Offers Chances for Overseas Business

By the year 2005, China will double the daily capacity of wastewater treatment in cities throughout the country, which will bring more business opportunities to international financial institutions and transnational companies.

Deputy Construction Minister Zheng Yijun made the remark Wednesday at the ongoing 21st Century International Conference and Exhibition on Developing Strategy for Urban Waste Water Treatment and Reuse.

Zheng said China welcomes more foreign capital to invest in the construction and management of wastewater treatment and reuse projects in China.

According to China's tenth five-year plan, in the next five years, wastewater treatment facilities will be built in all Chinese cities, and 45 percent of sewage water in cities will be treated by 2005.

By the year 2005, the daily capacity of wastewater treatment in cities will reach 40 million cubic meters, a great increase on the 14.75 million cubic meters in 2000.

Zheng noted that the Chinese government has carried out proactive fiscal policies since 1998, and decided to invest 200 billion yuan (about 24.16 billion US dollars) each year in municipal infrastructure construction.

The government alone cannot meet the cost of constructing and developing municipal wastewater treatment, and more overseas capital will be needed to speed up the commercial process of China's wastewater treatment, says Zheng.

Currently, in China's Hebei Province alone, overseas investment in the fields of water supply, wastewater treatment and other municipal infrastructure construction has reached 300 million US dollars each year.

Statistics show that the number of cities in China had reached 663 by the end of 2000, and the proportion of the population living in cities will increase from the current 31% to 60% over the next 20 years.

Wang Guangtao, vice-mayor of Beijing, said in order to make the 2008 Olympic Games a "green sports meeting", the municipal government has decided to begin new urban wastewater treatment and reuse projects. The vice-mayor hopes more advanced techniques and overseas capital be poured into these projects.

The World Bank and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) wish to continue their support of China in urban wastewater treatment and reuse.

Currently the World Bank is financing fifteen projects with significant urban wastewater components, involving an investment of more than two billion U.S. dollars.

The UNIDO also plans to invest 30 billion U.S. dollars in China to conserve China's water resources.

By 2000, 427 urban wastewater treatment plants had been built in China, and 300 more are under construction.

Wastewater Recycling in Cities

China will increase the urban water supply by 50 percent by recycling more wastewater in the next few years, the Deputy Minister said.

Zheng said at the 21st Century International Conference and Exhibition on Developing Strategy for Urban Waste Water Treatment and Reuse that 80 percent of the water for urban use will become wastewater, and 70 percent of the wastewater can be recycled.

China is now faced with a serious water shortage, with the average amount of fresh water per capita being only a quarter of the global average. Water pollution is worsening the situation.

On the other hand, water wastage has become a huge problem in the country. Incomplete water-saving systems, excessive water consumption by farming and industrial production, lack of separate storage and use of water resources of different quality and other factors contribute to this problem.

In China now 103 cubic meters of water is used for every 10,000 yuan (about 1,200 U.S. dollars) worth of industrial output, 10-20 times the average level in developed countries. Only 40 percent of wastewater is recycled, compared with 75-85 percent in developed countries.

China regards the treatment and reuse of wastewater in cities as an effective means to save water and solve water shortage problems, Zheng said.

Largest Urban Water Supply Project Underway

Construction began Wednesday to open a tunnel through mountains to channel water from Zhangjiu River to Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The tunnel is part of a 3.9-billion-yuan urban water supply project, the largest in China, which will contribute 250 million cubic meters of water annually to Kunming, doubling the city's present water supply.

The project will include the building of a reservoir, a tap- water plant and pipe facilities. Preparations started in 1999 and construction is underway on a full scale with the start of the tunnel project.

The total length of the closed water conduction line will be 97. 72 kilometers, and international bidding was resorted to.

The International Cooperation Bank of Japan has issued 1.4 billion yuan in loans for the project.

The Zhangjiu River is a tributary to the Jinsha River, the upper section of the Yangtze.

China's Urban Wastewater Treatment Attracts Global Attention