China to promote desalination, ease water shortage

Beijing (CNS) – China will speed up promotion of the desalination industry to ease the increasingly severe water shortages in its offshore areas and islands.

The development of desalination is of great significance to China, not just with respect to satisfying immediate demands for potable water, but also in the long haul as a component of the marine economy, an officer from the National Development and Reform Commission said on February 13.

The government's objective is to reach a desalination capability of 2.2-2.6 million cubic meters per day by 2015, and it will adopt a series of policies in taxation, finance and other areas to stimulate the industry's development, he added. China was already producing 0.66 million cubic meters per day as of the end of 2011.

Globally, desalination has brought drinking water to over 200 million people and serves as an important component of the water supply for the Gulf countries.

China's freshwater resource per capita is about 2,100 cubic meters, only 28 percent of the world's average amount. At present two thirds of Chinese cities lack sufficient water, and one fourth experience severe water shortage problems.