China's Water Tech Exports Rise, Focused on Desalination and Global Markets

Industry experts say declining natural water supplies are driving China to invest heavily in manufactured freshwater and become a major supplier across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. China's companies sell desalination membranes, filtration equipment and engineering services to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, often through the Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative links China's capital and infrastructure development with developing markets. Gulf states, despite their longstanding desalination expertise, are increasingly using China's manufacturers for large-scale equipment production. UN Comtrade data show China exported more than $2 billion of water filtering and purifying machinery in 2025, up 25% from $1.6 billion in 2020. Vontron Technology said shipments to Belt and Road countries last year exceeded 30,000 seawater desalination membranes, sufficient for daily capacity above 300,000 tons. PowerChina said in January that the company was constructing a water supply project in Tanzania intended to serve more than 450,000 people.

Beijing has elevated water security to a strategic priority. Hong Kong-based think tank China Water Risk (CWR) says water conservancy spending has outpaced military spending growth since 2015. Annual water conservancy spending now surpasses 1.2 trillion yuan ($170 billion), an amount CWR says rivals China's central military budget. A glacier collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border in August illustrated the increasing instability of natural water supplies. Climate change is eroding Tibet's glaciers, which supply river headwaters serving nearly 2 billion people in South, Southeast and East Asia. Excessive extraction has depleted northern China's groundwater and created persistent shortages in important farming areas.

CWR warned that peak water could arrive by 2050 across 10 major river systems supplying one in two Asians, as glacier melting peaks and river flows decrease. Peak water marks the maximum flow from natural sources before sustained decline begins. CWR said the change would threaten almost half the GDP of 16 countries, including China. Benjamin Horton, dean of City University of Hong Kong's School of Energy and Environment, said China's capacity to scale water technology could lower costs for other water-stressed countries. Horton said Beijing could become Asia's foremost supplier of practical water security solutions. Horton predicted continuing Belt and Road demand for hydropower, desalination, flood forecasting, irrigation, wastewater treatment and infrastructure resilient to climate change.

China introduced regulations in July under the Five-Year Plan that position water as essential to national security and economic self-reliance, beyond environmental protection. Surface water supplies approximately 80% of China's freshwater. Recycled water, desalinated seawater and collected rainwater together supply only 3% to 4%, a share authorities have pledged to increase. The South-North Water Transfer Project carries billions of cubic meters from the Yangtze River to northern China, but energy costs and declining surpluses in the warming Yangtze basin constrain the project. Saleh Al Khabti, China president of Saudi developer Acwa, said costs are increasing and water quality is worsening in some areas.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says China had 167 operating seawater desalination projects at the end of 2025. The ministry puts combined daily capacity at 3,076,805 tons, an increase of 221,283 tons from 2024. State media estimate average production costs at 4 to 8 yuan per cubic meter. Industry reports forecast market growth from $1.84 billion in 2024 to $4.66 billion in 2033, approximately 11% annually. Large investment requirements and the central planning necessary for water conveyance networks spanning multiple cities remain obstacles. Khabti said many people in China consider drinking desalinated water taboo, although local governments want to expand capacity.

Khabti said China's manufacturers supply more than 90% of the renewable equipment Acwa procures. Khabti said Acwa also sources approximately 70% of the company's global water equipment from suppliers in China. Acwa has pledged investments of up to $30 billion in China by 2030, collaborating with companies including PowerChina and China Energy Engineering Corporation. Acwa plans annual spending of at least $15 billion on equipment from China over the next three years for renewables, green hydrogen and desalination.

Khabti said Acwa and Acwa's partners needed 15 years to reach their current level of capability. Khabti expects China's original equipment manufacturers to reach a comparable level within two to three years. Khabti expects desalination to become a major export sector, following wind and solar equipment. Khabti said, "We're very bullish about China," and added, "Once it's there, China will be the leader."