IFAT CHINA 2008 - Water is big business

In the Chinese cities, 90 percent of the surface water and 50 percent of the ground water is seriously polluted. According to information from the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad, only 20 to 25 percent of the waste water occurring nationwide is treated. Over 60 percent of all Chinese cities have no sewage systems. Other figures underline the critical situation in the supply of water in China. China´s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) quotes a figure of over 300 million people in China who have no access to clean drinking water. 90 percent of the rivers and 75 percent of the lakes in the country are polluted or seriously polluted.

This water pollution is leading to economic losses for China, not to mention the impact on the country´s ecology and the health of its population. The Chinese Academy of Science estimates that in 2003 the losses through water and air pollution accounted for 15 percent of the national product.

Against this background – and not least because of the intensified national and international debate about the environment – the Chinese government has set itself high goals in its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006 to 2010) regarding waste water. By 2010 at least 70 percent of all sewage in towns will be treated. For the cities of Beijing and Shanghai the goals are even more ambitious – Beijing must increase the proportion of sewage treated from 50 percent at present levels to 90 percent by the Olympic Games in 2008. In Shanghai a treatment rate of 80 percent is to be reached by Expo 2010. In general all cities with over 250,000 inhabitants will be equipped with sewage plants. Existing sewage-treatment plants are to be modernised. For this 32 billion euros worth of investment is envisaged.

According to analysts´ estimates, the market for water treatment in China is growing at a rate of 15 percent per year. Many foreign firms have been benefiting from this development for several years. The French water giant Suez is already present in a number of Chinese cities. In the industrial zone in Shanghai Suez has set up a sewage-treatment plant and taken a 60 percent stake in a water project in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing. At the beginning of 2006 Suez moved into its regional headquarters in Shanghai and in July last year it set up a research institute in Shanghai.

Another French water group, Veolia Water, signed its 21st contract for water-supply services in China in January this year. This new project covers a range of services, including, from mid 2007, the operation of four water-treatment plants in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, with a total capacity of 2.2 million cubic metres per year.

One example of German-Chinese involvement comes from the Berlinwasser Group, which has built a sewage plant in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province in the southwest of China. This plant treats sewage for around one million inhabitants.

In industrial waste-water treatment, too, foreign expertise is in demand. For example, the Industrial Solutions and Services division of Siemens recently designed and built a treatment plant for removing nitrogen from waste water for the pharmaceuticals company Degussa Rexim (Nanning) Pharmaceutical Co. in the southern Chinese town of Wuming. This plant, based on biochemical treatment technology, has an annual capacity of around 300,000 cubic metres of water.

“The Peoples´ Republic of China is one of the most important pillars in our business in the Asian-Pacific region, and it is becoming ever more important in our global operations,” said Prof. Dr. Hermann Requardt, a member of the board of Siemens AG at the inauguration of the ‘Siemens Corporate Technology China’ research centre at the end of October last year in Beijing. Over 300 scientists will be carrying out research here into new environmental, energy, health and automation technologies. Siemens will be investing around 80 million euros per year in the location up to 2010.

In line with the importance of the subject of water in China, sewage treatment and drinking water preparation will again be major focuses at the environmental trade fair IFAT CHINA in September 2008 in Shanghai. Already at the last event in June 2006, there was a strong presence among the exhibitors from companies offering products and system solutions for water and waste-water treatment. But also for the fields of refuse handling, recycling, measurement technology, air-pollution control and renewable energies, IFAT CHINA is regarded as an important international networking platform – at IFAT CHINA 2006, 284 exhibitors from 25 countries successfully initiated new business and forged valuable new contacts in China.

About IFAT CHINA
IFAT CHINA presents an in-depth range of practical solutions in the fields of water supply, waste-water and sewage treatment, refuse handling, recycling, air pollution control, environmental technology and renewable energies for the Asian market. This trade fair provides a business and networking platform for Chinese and international representatives in the sector and it is accompanied by a technical and scientific conference programme. IFAT CHINA 2006 attracted 284 exhibitors from 25 countries and about 10,000 visitors from 66 countries. The 3rd International Trade Fair for Water, Sewage, Refuse, Recycling and Natural Energy Resources will take place from 23 to 25 September 2008 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in China.


Press Contact:
Petra Gagel, Press Officer IFAT CHINA
Marketing & Communication, Capital Goods Fairs
Tel.: +49 89 / 9 49-20244
Fax: +49 89 / 9 49-20249
E-mail: petra.gagel@messe-muenchen.de
Web: www.ifat-china.com