At present, China’s total sewage treatment capacity has exceeded that of the U.S. However, for the quantity and scale, there are 14,000 sewage treatment plants in the U.S., 1,050 of which are of large scale and 13,950 of which are small-scaled while there are only fewer than 4,000 sewage treatment plants in China. There are 1,667 sewage treatment plants in counties of China while 2,163 in cities. The sewage treatment market is changing, and the major battlefield of China’s sewage treatment market must be in the rural areas.
The development of China’s rural sewage treatment industry lags behind. Rural water pollutant discharge stays high, accounting for over 50% of the national water pollutant discharge; in addition, rural sewage treatment rate is generally low in contrast to 90% of municipal sewage treatment rate.
Annual production value of rural sewage treatment industry is estimated to reach CNY 42 billion in 2016, CNY 84.4 billion in 2020 and CNY 130.5 billion in 2025. Rural sewage treatment projects are generally not in use as the market grows gradually.
Take Beijing as an example, Changgou Town, Fangshan District invested CNY 5 million in sewage treatment facilities in 2003, however, it didn’t put into operation until 2009; in Haidian District, the sequencing batch reactor sewage treatment plant (daily capacity: 3,000 cubic meters) cannot be operated by the towns; In Huairou District, the sewage treatment facilities constructed by 274 administrative villages of 14 towns failed to operate either. Rural sewage treatment is still faced with obstacles due to problems involving regulations, design, technologies and funds.
Reference:
Research Report on China Sewage Treatment Industry, 2017-2021
Daily municipal sewage discharge reached 140 million cubic meters while 150 million cubic meters in 2016. It is estimated that China’s domestic sewage discharge will keep growing during 2017-2021 with the ever-increasing urban population.
Research Report on Environmental Protection Industry in China, 2014-2018
Chinese government issues a series of policies to support the development of environmental protection industry in recent years. The industry of energy conservation and environmental protection will further develop due to the supportive policies in 2014-2018.
A-Share Listed Environmental Protection Engineering and Service Companies – Profiles and Financial Data
CRI estimated that in 2016, total income of the environmental protection engineering and service industry exceeded CNY 1 trillion.