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, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters

Chinese firms are selling desalination membranes, filtration equipment and engineering services to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, often through the Belt and Road Initiative, which connects Chinese capital and infrastructure projects to developing markets. Even Gulf states, long desalination pioneers, are turning to Chinese manufacturers to produce equipment at scale, Reuters reported.

China exported more than $2 billion of water filtering and purifying machinery in 2025 — yaani 200 crore dollars — up 25% from $1.6 billion in 2020, according to United Nations Comtrade data cited by Reuters. 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.

The push is rooted in domestic risk, Reuters reported. 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, while severe over-extraction in northern China has depleted groundwater and left key farming regions with systemic deficits. '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,' China Water Risk said.

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 figures cited by Reuters. Surface water supplies about 80% of China's freshwater, while recycled water, desalinated seawater and harvested rainwater provide just 3% to 4%, and authorities have pledged to raise that share.

Foreign players are buying in, Reuters reported. Saleh Al Khabti, China president of Saudi developer Acwa, said more than 90% of the renewable equipment Acwa procures comes from Chinese manufacturers and the company buys about 70% of its global water equipment from Chinese suppliers. Acwa has pledged to invest up to $30 billion in China by 2030 — yaani 3,000 crore dollars — and Khabti said he expects desalination to follow wind and solar as 'a big area of exports'.

Benjamin Horton, dean of the School of Energy and Environment at City University of Hong Kong, told Reuters China's ability to develop water technology at scale could cut costs for other water-stressed countries, and that Beijing could become Asia's leading provider of practical water security solutions. Hurdles remain, Reuters noted, including the scale of investment and central planning needed, and public attitudes — Khabti said many Chinese still view drinking desalinated water as taboo, though local governments are keen to build capacity.