Membrane industry show in Shanghai to celebrate third year in 2006

SHANGHAI, China, Aug. 2, 2005 -- The Water & Membrane China (Shanghai) 2006 exhibition will be held at Shanghai Mart on March 29-31, 2006.

Water & Membrane China (Shanghai) 2004, though held for the first time, was attended by 105 exhibitors from Australia, Canada, China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan regions), Germany, Japan, Singapore and the United States. The three-day show also attracted 3,892 trade visitors from China's 10 provinces, and Australia, Canada, France, India, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and United States. Now in its third year, it's China's largest trade show on water treatment and membrane technology.

It's organized by the Shanghai Environment Protection Industry Association, Shanghai Society of Environmental Sciences, Membrane Industry Association of China, supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Water Authority, Shanghai Water Authority, the State Commission for Developing and Restructuring, European Union Delegation of the European Commission, and Science and Technology ITM-CNR of Italy, etc.

China's membrane market foresees a demand of 20 billion RMB, or yuan, (US$2.4 billion) in 2015 along with the current annual growth of 15% in output value.

Among problems and opportunities highlighted at the conference are:
-- Water shortage, water pollution and water leakage in water supply channels are three pressing problems that China needs to solve.
-- More than 400 of China's 672 cities are short of water and 160 cities are forced to impose water restrictions. The water shortages cost US$24.2 billion in industrial output a year. Fresh water scarcity aside, water utilization remains frustrating, which is as low as 40% in farm irrigation and 55% in industry at average.
-- Meanwhile, water leakage in urban supplying channels is shocking, exceeding 15%. About 21.5% of urban supply networks leak water, wasting 10 billion cubic meters a year.
-- Monitoring water quality at 741 checkpoints on China's top 7 rivers showed that less than 30% reached level 3, or the medium level in the nation's 5-grade index for water quality monitoring, while 41% were below the worst level of 5.
-- According to China's 10th Five-Year (2001-2005) Plan, the annual output of the water-supply industry will soar from the current US$7.2 billion to US$24 billion by 2005. Research shows that China's water business will maintain an annual 15% growth for a considerably long period. By 2005 China will increase its water supply capacity by 40 million cubic meters a day and need up to US$120 billion of investment, but the governments can allocate only US$24-36 billion. The remaining money must be raised from foreign investment, bank loans and other places such as the capital market.
-- Every year, 20 billion square meters of living quarters are completed in China, bringing additional business to water supply and wastewater treatment investors.
-- China's sewage water treatment industry has also entered a new stage of fast expansion. Statistics indicates that 3.7 billion tons of sewage is discharged daily in China. By 2005, about 45% of China's urban wastewater should be treated, up from the current 29%. By 2010, some 10,000 sewage treatment plants will have been completed to increase the treatment ratio to the required 50%.

For additional information, contact Miss GaoJing at Beijing Shi Bo Hong Ye Exhibition Service Co. Ltd. (Contact: +86-10-65085223, +86-10-65085316 (fax) or [email protected]) or visit: www.sino-expo.com.

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