China bets on manufactured water exports as domestic supply shrinks
China is becoming a major exporter of water technology to Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Industry experts say Beijing's push is driven by domestic water shortages and climate change, with spending now exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan annually.
China is emerging as a major supplier of water technology to parched countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, as shrinking natural supplies at home push Beijing to invest heavily in manufactured freshwater, industry experts say.
Chinese firms are selling desalination membranes, filtration equipment and engineering services to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, often through the Belt and Road Initiative. China exported more than $2 billion of water filtering and purifying machinery in 2025, up 25 per cent from $1.6 billion in 2020, according to UN Comtrade. Vontron Technology said it shipped more than 30,000 seawater desalination membranes to Belt and Road countries last year, enough for more than 300,000 tons of daily capacity. In January, PowerChina said it was building a water supply project in Tanzania to serve more than 450,000 people.
At home, Beijing has made water security a strategic priority. Spending on water conservancy has grown faster than military spending since 2015, according to China Water Risk (CWR), a Hong Kong-based think tank. It now exceeds 1.2 trillion yuan ($170 billion) a year, which CWR says rivals China's central military budget. The push is rooted in domestic risk. In August, a glacier collapse near the border between Nepal and Tibet showed how volatile natural water sources are becoming. Tibet's "water towers" feed headwaters for nearly 2 billion people across South, Southeast and East Asia, and climate change is eroding them.
"We could see peak water by 2050 across 10 major river systems that provide water to one in two Asians as glacier melt peaks and river flows decline," CWR said. "This will put almost half the GDP of 16 countries at risk, including China."
Benjamin Horton, dean of the School of Energy and Environment at City University of Hong Kong, said China's ability to develop water technology at scale could cut costs for other water-stressed countries. "Through the Belt and Road Initiative, there is likely to be continued demand for hydropower, desalination, flood forecasting, irrigation, wastewater treatment, and climate-resilient infrastructure," he said.
In July, China rolled out new regulations under its Five-Year Plan that treat water as a pillar of national security and economic self-reliance. China operated 167 seawater desalination projects at the end of 2025, with total capacity of 3,076,805 tons a day, up 221,283 tons from 2024, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. Industry reports expect the market to grow from $1.84 billion in 2024 to $4.66 billion in 2033. Hurdles remain, including the scale of investment and public attitudes. Saleh Al Khabti, China president of Saudi developer Acwa, said many Chinese still view drinking desalinated water as taboo.
Khabti said more than 90 per cent of the renewable equipment Acwa procures comes from Chinese manufacturers, and the company buys about 70 per cent of its global water equipment from Chinese suppliers. Acwa has pledged to invest up to $30 billion in China by 2030. "We're very bullish about China," he said. "Once it's there, China will be the leader."
