Siemens Group takes majority stake in Tianjin

Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is taking a majority stake in the joint venture Tianjin National Water Equipment & Engineering Co., Ltd., and is thereby intensifying cooperation with the subsidiary of the North China Municipal Engineering, Design & Research Institute, Tianijn.

Siemens plans to concentrate more on developing innovative products and process solutions for China's water and wastewater industry and making them available on the market. "The Chinese market for water supply and wastewater treatment needs local expertise and local solutions," according to Hans Werner Linne, head of I&S in China. "The joint venture is a great opportunity to strengthen our current position in the rapidly growing Chinese market."

The company fabricates and sells Siemens-designed components and services, adapted to local standards. "This partnership will allow Siemens to leverage its technologies with local expertise and capabilities, and open local sales channels, sourcing and servicing," Linne continued. "These factors will benefit municipal customers and industrial companies."

Siemens and Tianjin National Water Engineering Co. have worked together on more than 10 system integration and turnkey wastewater treatment projects, featuring biological treatment process for nutrient removal and technologies for secondary clarification. "China is facing the major challenge of making optimum use of the raw material that is water and closing future supply gaps by reprocessing wastewater,” he emphasized. He said that this was the only way that supply and security of supply could keep pace with increasing demand and population growth in China.

Siemens anticipates that at least 800 to 900 new treatment plants for drinking water will be needed in towns, cities and conurbations in China by the year 2010 in order for China to increase annual drinking water production by three per cent. The number of wastewater treatment plants must be doubled in five years from the current number of around 700 in order to increase capacity for wastewater purification by ten per cent annually. Only about half of municipal and industrial wastewater in China is treated now.

Siemens intends to contribute to expansion of the infrastructure in water supply and disposal in China with products, systems and services.