The Asian Development Bank approved a US$ 35 million loan to help the China Water Utilities Group (CWUG), an investment holding company to be established in Shanghai by the China Water Company (CWC), to serve as the vehicle for a water infrastructure development facility in China. CWC is a water infrastructure development and investment company that operates out of Hong Kong.
According to the ADB, the facility will fund small water projects that ADB would have difficulty in assisting directly. CWUG will use the facility to partner with different municipalities to develop water resources, water supply, wastewater treatment and other water-related infrastructure. The facility will give municipalities access to financing to expand potable water supply, and improve wastewater treatment to stop the increasing pollution of water resources.
More than a third of China's river systems are polluted and more than 90% of the catchment areas around its cities are severely contaminated. Access to clean water is a major problem in some municipalities, particularly in northern China.
