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| China
water projects to get big investment |
| BEIJING The Chinese government plans to spend
1 trillion yuan by 2010 to build waste-water treatment
plants and upgrade water distribution systems
around China, the Ministry of Construction said
Tuesday. |
| Of that amount, which is equivalent to $125.5
billion, as much as 330 billion yuan will be spent
on the water projects in urban centers. As many
as 278 cities lack proper treatment facilities
and at least 30 cities have plants that operate
at less than 30 percent capacity, the ministry
said. |
| China wants to tap the capital and technology
of overseas companies like Veolia Environnement
to supply clean water for the country. |
| Shortages of natural water, worsened by rampant
industrial pollution, plague the central and western
provinces, which are facing China's worst drought
in 50 years. |
| "We welcome water companies from all over
the world to participate in the Chinese market,"
Qiu Baoxing, deputy minister for construction,
said Tuesday at a press briefing in Beijing. "Companies
including Veolia and Suez have already done very
well in China's water treatment and recycling
sector. This is proof that China's water sector
is open." |
| Foreign financing in the industry in China is
less than 10 percent, Zhang Yue, deputy director
general for urban construction at the ministry,
said at the briefing, without specifying whether
the government has placed a cap on such investments.
The government's priorities are to "pay attention
to water safety and public interest," he
said. |
| China's biggest water shortages may still be
ahead because its urban population is expected
to continue growing by as much as 15 million annually,
bringing potential "regional water crises,"
Qiu said. Urban water users jumped by 78.7 million
between 2000 and 2005 to 327 million, the ministry
said. |
| The government has set a goal of treating 70
percent of urban wastewater by the end of 2010,
up from 50 percent, Qiu said. The other half is
"directly discharged," damaging the
country's natural water resources, he said. |
| In 150 cities, no wastewater treatment fees
were collected last year, the ministry said. The
government wants to upgrade treatment systems
nationwide while keeping water prices affordable.
Water in China is priced at "20 percent of
replacement," Elizabeth Economy, director
of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations
in New York, said in June. |
| "Weak links," the ministry said, remain
in the effort to create better water treatment
and allocation systems. Overuse of water resources
by an average of 10 billion cubic meters annually
has caused the ground to sink in 50 cities, while
irreparable damage has already been done to the
ecology of some natural water resources, it said.
|
| China's sprawling cities have been siphoning
water from farmers, undermining the government's
pledge to improve living standards in the countryside,
which is home to 70 percent of the country's population.
Rural water shortages threaten to stoke unrest,
cut harvests and slow economic growth here. |
| Guaranteeing water supplies to rural areas,
where household incomes average less than a third
of those in cities, is crucial to President Hu
Jintao's goals of reducing social inequality and
fostering sustainable growth. The government is
building a $62 billion network of canals to move
water to arid northern provinces, and it has pledged
to increase spending in rural areas. |
| The number of protests involving more than 100
people rose to 87,000 last year from 74,000 in
2004 and 10,000 in 1994, according to the Ministry
of Public Security in Beijing. The ministry declined
to say how many of the demonstrations were related
to water. |
| China's per-person water usage averaged about
2,200 cubic meters, or a quarter of the global
average, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. |
| Factories and urban residents used 34 percent
of the nation's water in 2004, up from 25 percent
in 1998, the ministry said. That increase has
cut grain production, which fell 8.4 percent to
469.4 million tons in the same period, according
to the National Bureau of Statistics. |
| Rapid industrialization in countries like China
is attracting Western companies that recognize
a big potential for profits in water-related equipment
and services, which already make up a global market
estimated at $400 billion. |
| "Industrial complexes are igniting in China
and Russia, and there is a huge need for companies
to help them manage their water effectively,"
said William Roe, chief operating officer for
Nalco, a water treatment company in Illinois that
has stepped up sales efforts in emerging economies. |
| For example, Veolia, which is based in France,
owns utilities that provide water and sewer services
to 110 million people. |
| In the past few years, units of General Electric
have bought four water companies: Betz Dearborn
in 2001, then Osmonics, Ionics and, most recently,
Zenon Environmental Systems, which makes ultrafiltration
membranes. Last month, GE Energy Financial Services
announced its first investment in water: $18 million
in a wastewater reclamation plant in Atlanta. |
| Siemens, the German conglomerate, recently joined
forces with Mekerot, Israel's biggest water utility,
to explore new technologies to reuse scarce water
in Israel, and ultimately to sell it to other
parched nations. |
| Chemical companies are also taking an interest.
Last month, Dow Chemical, which has made water-softening
resins and membranes for treating water for 20
years, bought Zhejiang Omex Environmental Engineering,
a Chinese company that adds three more technologies
to Dow's portfolio.$@ |
| BEIJING The Chinese government plans to spend
1 trillion yuan by 2010 to build waste-water treatment
plants and upgrade water distribution systems
around China, the Ministry of Construction said
Tuesday. |
| Of that amount, which is equivalent to $125.5
billion, as much as 330 billion yuan will be spent
on the water projects in urban centers. As many
as 278 cities lack proper treatment facilities
and at least 30 cities have plants that operate
at less than 30 percent capacity, the ministry
said. |
| China wants to tap the capital and technology
of overseas companies like Veolia Environnement
to supply clean water for the country. |
| Shortages of natural water, worsened by rampant
industrial pollution, plague the central and western
provinces, which are facing China's worst drought
in 50 years. |
| "We welcome water companies from all over
the world to participate in the Chinese market,"
Qiu Baoxing, deputy minister for construction,
said Tuesday at a press briefing in Beijing. "Companies
including Veolia and Suez have already done very
well in China's water treatment and recycling
sector. This is proof that China's water sector
is open." |
| Foreign financing in the industry in China is
less than 10 percent, Zhang Yue, deputy director
general for urban construction at the ministry,
said at the briefing, without specifying whether
the government has placed a cap on such investments.
The government's priorities are to "pay attention
to water safety and public interest," he
said. |
| China's biggest water shortages may still be
ahead because its urban population is expected
to continue growing by as much as 15 million annually,
bringing potential "regional water crises,"
Qiu said. Urban water users jumped by 78.7 million
between 2000 and 2005 to 327 million, the ministry
said. |
| The government has set a goal of treating 70
percent of urban wastewater by the end of 2010,
up from 50 percent, Qiu said. The other half is
"directly discharged," damaging the
country's natural water resources, he said. |
| In 150 cities, no wastewater treatment fees
were collected last year, the ministry said. The
government wants to upgrade treatment systems
nationwide while keeping water prices affordable.
Water in China is priced at "20 percent of
replacement," Elizabeth Economy, director
of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations
in New York, said in June. |
| "Weak links," the ministry said, remain
in the effort to create better water treatment
and allocation systems. Overuse of water resources
by an average of 10 billion cubic meters annually
has caused the ground to sink in 50 cities, while
irreparable damage has already been done to the
ecology of some natural water resources, it said. |
| China's sprawling cities have been siphoning
water from farmers, undermining the government's
pledge to improve living standards in the countryside,
which is home to 70 percent of the country's population.
Rural water shortages threaten to stoke unrest,
cut harvests and slow economic growth here. |
| Guaranteeing water supplies to rural areas,
where household incomes average less than a third
of those in cities, is crucial to President Hu
Jintao's goals of reducing social inequality and
fostering sustainable growth. The government is
building a $62 billion network of canals to move
water to arid northern provinces, and it has pledged
to increase spending in rural areas. |
| The number of protests involving more than 100
people rose to 87,000 last year from 74,000 in
2004 and 10,000 in 1994, according to the Ministry
of Public Security in Beijing. The ministry declined
to say how many of the demonstrations were related
to water. |
| China's per-person water usage averaged about
2,200 cubic meters, or a quarter of the global
average, according to the Ministry of Water Resources. |
| Factories and urban residents used 34 percent
of the nation's water in 2004, up from 25 percent
in 1998, the ministry said. That increase has
cut grain production, which fell 8.4 percent to
469.4 million tons in the same period, according
to the National Bureau of Statistics. |
| Rapid industrialization in countries like China
is attracting Western companies that recognize
a big potential for profits in water-related equipment
and services, which already make up a global market
estimated at $400 billion. |
| "Industrial complexes are igniting in China
and Russia, and there is a huge need for companies
to help them manage their water effectively,"
said William Roe, chief operating officer for
Nalco, a water treatment company in Illinois that
has stepped up sales efforts in emerging economies.
|
| For example, Veolia, which is based in France,
owns utilities that provide water and sewer services
to 110 million people. |
| In the past few years, units of General Electric
have bought four water companies: Betz Dearborn
in 2001, then Osmonics, Ionics and, most recently,
Zenon Environmental Systems, which makes ultrafiltration
membranes. Last month, GE Energy Financial Services
announced its first investment in water: $18 million
in a wastewater reclamation plant in Atlanta.
|
| Siemens, the German conglomerate, recently joined
forces with Mekerot, Israel's biggest water utility,
to explore new technologies to reuse scarce water
in Israel, and ultimately to sell it to other
parched nations. |
| Chemical companies are also taking an interest.
Last month, Dow Chemical, which has made water-softening
resins and membranes for treating water for 20
years, bought Zhejiang Omex Environmental Engineering,
a Chinese company that adds three more technologies
to Dow's portfolio. |
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